good day everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we are getting our first look at the damage inflicted by u.s. bombers against iranian link targets in iraq and syria. and new reaction from the governments involved.

these are the first daylight pictures from and barr province in iraq, one of the seven locations struck. baghdad is condemning the attack, saying the white house glide about saying they were informed before. it msnbc has reached out to the national security council. the iraqi foreign council has summoned the top diplomat to deliver for a note of process, syria's foreign ministry adding to the condemnation, saying the u.s. is feeling regional conflict and quote, a very dangerous way. biden has been clear that this is just the start of u.s. retaliation for the deaths of three u.s. soldiers on sunday. six days ago, the next phase could also include cyber targets as well as air strikes. we start this hour with lieutenant journal steph twitty, former deputy commander of u.s. european command, and back with us, jeremy bash, former chief of staff and secretary leon panetta at the pentagon and actually at the

cia. so general, your reaction to the targets that they chose, the scope in this first round? >> yeah, good to be with you, andrea. when you take a look at the targets, you can tell that the intent was to go after the capabilities that are harming our soldiers and interests in the region. they went after the intelligence centers, the command and control, the launch sites, the drone launching sites. all of these targets were designed to reduce the capability so that these terrorists and proxy groups cannot harm our soldiers or our interests and we can attempt to reestablish some type of stability in the region and protect our troops while they're conducting their various missions, particularly the mission to go after i.s.i.s., which as you know, we have troops in iraq and syria

that continue to go after that mission. those are the troops that are really vulnerable, and that is why the targets that they selected, meaning the u.s., that is why we selected those targets to protect those troops. >> and jimmy, iraq and syria saying that the u.s. is escalating this regional conflict. the pentagon says the goal was to degrade and disrupt capabilities and to deter of course. could it backfire on the u.s.? >> well first, to build on something that general twitty correctly pointed out, the targets were selected so that the united states could degrade the capabilities of these terrorist organizations, but importantly also, the targets were selected because they are specifically iranian linked. they are iranian targets, and president biden made that clear in his statement when he discussed the targets. he said, we are going after iran's elements in the region, and if anyone harms american troops, they are going to hear from us. so i think that is important.

with respect to the reactions from the governments in syria and iraq, to some extent, syria is sort of what you would expect. but sheer all assad, he is no friend of the united states. but iraq, it's a little bit more troubling, but they're walking this line because they maintain iterations with iraq, and they want to cloud the word that they're not hosting american airstrikes or they're not condoning or tolerating, it but they have these ungoverned spaces and they have these areas where iranian terrorists and proxies operate, and if you will provide eight safe haven for terrorists, you will be visited by american fighter aircraft, because there's no way in american president is going to tolerate these terrorist organizations killing american troops in the middle east. >> and general twitty, how is the u.s., the pentagon preparing for possible retaliation? >> so they will take a look at the battle damage assessment and see what capabilities they are able to reduce as a result

of the strikes. this will go on probably for a day or so, because they will have to see the movements, they will have to get the energy, and all of the things that are required to really make a good assessment. and if they see that they did not degrade the capability that they desired, they are going to go back after the same targets, and i suspect they're going to see whether or not other extremist groups, proxies are preparing to conduct retaliatory strikes, and you can expect preemptive strikes occur on those particular elements that are prepared to conduct retaliatory strikes either on u.s. forces, u.s. interest in the region, and oh by the way, we have civilians in the region, particularly at our embassies and so forth, and so we will be taking a look at whether or not they are humbled as well. but you can dissipate more of these strikes, and i think it is the right idea.

we got asked in the right message, plus, we got to sustain these. you heard me talk about whack-a- mole. we do not want to play the whack-a-mole games that we have been playing previously. we have to reduce this capability in order to reinstall deterrents in the region. >> jeremy, there's been criticism already, and we will get to that later in the program, from the speaker, from republican senators that the president telegraphed his moves and waited too long. we know they were waiting for the weather conditions to make sure that they did not hit civilians as much as they could avoid that. but also, do you think that this is viewed in the region as strong enough, this first round? >> i think it is a very important first step. i think it's viewed in the region as america showing that it's not going to tolerate attacks on its forces, but i think that the president also made clear that this is just round one, and now we will continue to defend our interests and our personnel. i really commend the biden

administration, president biden and his national security leadership for the way that they handled this. they made clear that we are going to respond at a time in place of our choosing. they didn't telegraph too many of our moves and our messages. they had private consultations with allies and partners. they set the theater, they developed intelligence. the president went too -- and stood in a brutal situation where you have to control and cancel the families of the fallen at dover air force base, and then we launched our tax and the world heard from us that we will not tolerate attacks against our troops. and i believe the president, i take him at his word that if necessary, he will authorize additional strikes against iranian targets so that iran cannot continue to attack american interests in the middle east. >> jeremy bass and general steph twitty. stay with us in just a few moments, but joining us now on the significance of the locations targeted by the u.s. and what the strikes mean for the region is msnbc national security analyst clint watts.

so clint, what can you tell us about the specific locations that the u.s. was targeting yesterday. why were these chosen? >> yeah, andrea, this is tower 22. that is where that target was just over the border in jordan. where we saw them hit was mostly along the very well known lines that into between syria and iraq, here, there's outdoor, and then i'll ellison, there's a major dam there. more importantly, inside iraq, and this is the tension point is al-qaeda. al-qaeda is one of those areas where we see iranian-backed militias that have been operating in doing targeting across this region here. remember, there u.s. forces deployed at several outpost all along this area here. where we saw those attacks on those targets, those are critical nodes for those militia groups. so general twitty was talking about hitting communications and hitting intelligence but most importantly hitting

ammunition bunkers in key locations to for the capability of the militia groups to do attacks. the question that i think everybody is going, two intermediate to speaking about, is what is the running targets, and we will see a different layer of this or an additional layer of this. the iranian revolutionary guard corps, and there quds force, their special forces team, they keep the connective tissue between all of these groups and in particular the targets. that's not just limited to syria and iraq. that also goes down to the south here in yemen where we have seen the houthis launching those attacks in the red sea. the question is, will the u.s. potentially go after additional targets that they think are irgc related? that could be all the way up here along the illinois border as they maybe make their way from syria and iraq back into iran, where could be other targets, namely -- overnight in damascus here, and syria, they have a target where they claimed to have killed a irgc commander. so all of this is really stage one, the first step. will there be a stage two on

iranian interest in the region? >> clint watts, thanks so much, and the response and reaction in the region from the u.s. decision for air strikes on iran-backed militias. we are live in iraq coming up next. this is a special addition of andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. on msnbc. footlong sidekick. like the philly with a new $2 footlong churro. sometimes the sidekick is the main event. you would say that. every epic footlong deserves the perfect sidekick. can neuriva support your brain health? mary, janet, hey!! (thinking: eddie, no frasier, frank... frank?) fred! how are you?! fred... fuel up to 7 brain health indicators, including your memory. join the neuriva brain health challenge. (man) what if all i do for my type 2 diabetes isn't enough? inclor what if...mory. (vo) once-weekly mounjaro could help. mounjaro helps your body regulate blood sugar and can help you eat less food.

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the defense department says that the u.s. military conduct or strikes on seven facilities used by iran linked militias, including more than 85 targets in iraq and syria. iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps and affiliated -- used to attack u.s. forces. joining us now from northern iraq, nbc news chief international correspondent kier simmons. so clear, the iraqi reaction has shown great sensitivity to iranian militias that are very powerful inside iran iraq, and so they've called the top

diplomat there, there's no ambassador in baghdad to protest. >> that's, right andrea, and i think for many americans, it may feel a little bit like the light being switched on in terms of the reach and the influence and the installations of iran across the region. good from one perspective, the war in gaza is acting as a kind of catalyst for a number of conflagration's in many places. you spoke before, clint, before the break about what was happening in yemen with the iranian-backed houthis there, and now we have this campaign here by the u.s. targeting these iranian-backed militia here in iraq and over and syria. i think for many watching, it will be underscoring the strength and the power of iranian reach. that may not be something that the iranians are entirely comfortable with, honestly, but

here in iraq, to answer your question, we really are seeing just how intense it is, because the iraqi government is both a partner to the u.s. and gets a substantial amount of money from the u.s., but it is also a partner to iran, and there are many here in this country who would like to see the u.s. leave here and move further towards iran. so we had that statement this morning, a blistering statement from the iraqi government accusing the u.s. of deception, saying that iraq wasn't warned, and that iraq is now on the edge of the abyss. of course one of the interesting things to note is that more warning that the u.s. cave-in-rock, effectively it would be giving it to iran, because it is such a porous relationship with iran that these messages would then be transferred over to tehran very likely, and so very difficult balance for the biden administration to get right.

the risk, and there are multiple risks here of course, but the risk here in iraq is that by doing this and by fueling anger, you actually push the rockies more towards iran, which is exactly what the iranians want. aside from that of, course the other risks that the spirals into a wider war and, conversely, that tehran does not get the message. but these strikes, which are limited, but you simply do not move the needle in terms of iran's strategic objectives to push america out of this region and put pressure on israel. >> in addition to of course the u.s. forces that are deployed around the region, al-qassam still fighting i.s.i.s. in syria, you have the vulnerability of israel to the north from hezbollah. hezbollah and israel have had their tit-for-tat strikes since october 7th, but it has not become a full out engagement, a second front if you will. the u.s. calculation, i am told, is that hezbollah is more

constrained and does not want the hezbollah to ship in lebanon, does not want another devastating attack in lebanon. they just rebuild from the last one. is that what you are hearing from the region as well? >> oh yeah, absolutely. as ever, andrea, you get right to the point, and just pick up on two points you're making there, one is about the complexity of this u.s. operation, the u.s. role here is not just about iran. it is very much about fighting i.s.i.s., continuing that fight. but effectively, the u.s. won all those years ago. but when you talk about hezbollah, that is such an important factor to. and that is what the israelis have been saying for a long time, is that effectively syria, remember, that borders less hezbollah where they are quite state of iran, and when you talk to allies about syria, what you're hearing for example is that the iranians are building weapons, facilities, manufacturing facilities in

neighboring iran so that they don't even have to ship the weapons from iran, but the take them into hezbollah straight from syria. that is the kind of threat that the israelis have been deeply, deeply worried about. there already have this potential front with hezbollah, but they are very worried that another front opens up with syria, and that is what you have seen over many many years operations by the israelis inside of syria or targeting iranian-backed militias and even the iranian revolutionary guard themselves. just this morning, we heard about another strike south of damascus. according to reports, targeting an iranian revolutionary guard operative over there. so that is what the israelis are very, very concerned with. you have got to point out that ultimately this operation that we're seeing by the u.s. overnight, and we're likely to see more stages, so far it really has been limited to sending a message, don't kill americans. it is not trying to really address the -- over the many recent years, the growing strength of iran in the region.

and understandably so, perhaps, because that is how you get to an explanation, but it leads to an open question about what you do about the strategic goals of tehran. >> keir simmons, invaluable, thank you so much for all of your reporting from there. thanks. and joining us now, msnbc chief international analyst, former nato supreme allied commander admiral james tv this. admiral, thank you so much for being with us on a special edition, we can addition of our show. let's talk about the targeting, the first phase, the command control operations, intelligence centers, weapons facilities, supply lines, and particularly going after the quds force. the military arm of the iranian regime but not in iran's territory itself. and not the naval assets that might come in the next phase. what is your analysis of this first strike? >> well if you will commit the old grizzled admiral and nautical metaphor, we are sailing in a very narrow channel here.

on the one side, it is not doing enough, and that is clearly what has been happening. on the right side of that channel is where we are now, which is striking against iranian assets but not inside iran. that is very important to the calculus here, and i think that that will communicate a distinct signal to the iranians that we are quite serious, we are going to elevate, continue that vertical ladder of escalation as necessary. and i think you are correct, andrea, the next phase here would be to go out to sea and go after iranian ships, oil and gas platforms, intelligence assets. we are not there yet. let's hope we don't get there. let's hope the -- interaural are listening to the signal that was sent last night. >> and it strikes me that the head of the quds force was general soleimani, who was considered a martyr in iran,

because he was assassinated in iraq on iraqi territory by the trump administration, and in fact, there is, or they have been retaliation threats and death threats against all of the national security officials who were directly involved in those decisions to this day. it's well-known, it's been widely reported that they have security. so they take it very seriously. the quds force has a broad reach. they've reached into u.s., into washington itself with the attempted assassination against the saudi ambassador in a prominent restaurant right in the middle of georgetown. >> indeed, cafi molano, someplace you and i have been a bunch of times. and let's face it, yes, the quds force has a lot of reach, they also know that the united states of america has a lot of reach. and if i were general salah mean, who is the -- took the

place of general soleimani, i would not be traveling to baghdad anytime soon. so this place, both wage, at this stage of things, you will see the action unfold in the region, in syria, in iraq. the u.s. does not want to strike iran, iran does not want to conduct an assassination against for example john bolton at this point. let's hope that both actors want to keep this at least inside of the region. i think they will, but andrea, your point, it's worth worrying about that second order effects. that could be the spark that really lights this thing off. >> and we've seen so far relative restraint from hezbollah in lebanon. the part of the government there, they were devastated in the last war with israel. they clearly do not want to seem to want another war at least so far, and it may well have been deterred by the two carrier groups that the u.s. sent very early after october

7th. that said, iran does not seem to at least have taken any messages, messages from jake sullivan to china to please get iran to stop these attacks by the houthis against u.s. national shipping. what is the likelihood that the houthis will back off? >> let me start with hezbollah and just agree with you. i think it is unlikely that hezbollah goes big here. they have 130,000 surface-to- surface missiles directed against israel. they know that would be existential for them. israel would simply flatten southern lebanon. i think the united states would be part of that campaign. so i think that is unlikely. the houthis unfortunately andrea, very much the most difficult of these proxies for the iranians to control. they are going to continue i think to go after shipping. we had a very uncomfortable

incident where a u.s. navy destroyer had to use its last ditch defense system. i used to command a destroyer of that type. if you told me i was using my close and weapons system to destroy a cruise missile, i would have been a very nervous captain. so houthis are going to continue to fire away. i hope that iran can reel them in. i think they can. that will be the most difficult group to control. hezbollah i think is firmly under the control of tehran and unlikely to undertake a big campaign against israel. >> admiral james stavridis, as always, we appreciate you being here today. thank you. >> always a pleasure, thank you andrea. >> and next steps. what is the u.s. going to hit next as a targets iranian- backed militias. the killing of three u.s. soldiers last sunday. we will talk to our reporter spoke on the ground in the middle east and here in d.c.. this is a special edition of andrea mitchell reports.

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and we're back with our continuing coverage of the retaliatory attacks by the u.s. against iran, against the iran- backed militias in the middle east. in a statement issued by iran state media today, iran's foreign ministry spokesperson calls the attacks quote, a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of iraq and syria, and a violation of the u.n. charter. joining me now, nbc's allie raffa who is at the white house for us, and then dallas is tracking the latest from the pentagon, and wraps inches in tel aviv. so ali, walk us through what the president decision-making is, the iranian response from the foreign minister is not surprising. >> yeah, andrea, we know this was a very complex and delicate decision make for the process as you decide what to do from this menu of options he was given by his national security team and top advisers.

from the beginning, after last weekend's attack in jordan that killed three u.s. service members, the white house knew that this response, whatever it may end up being, had to serve many purposes. it obviously had to retaliate against these iranian-backed militias for conducting that strike. it also had to defend u.s. forces in the region by sending a very strong message to iran into these iranian-backed proxies who may try to conduct more attacks, in the national security council spokesperson admiral john kirby told reporters last night after the strike that it was also meant to obviously reduce these iranian-backed militias capabilities and infrastructure to be able to conduct an attack like the one that we saw last weekend. all of that while still trying to not escalate tensions in this region, trying to prevent the u.s. from being dragged

deeper into this conflict, and that is what the president and white house officials have said since the start of the israel- hamas war that they have been trying to prevent, and despite those efforts with the u.s. anymore deterrence this region, more u.s. troops, more carrier strike groups, that has not stopped these iranian-backed militias from conducting repeated strikes against u.s. service members in the region. the president said this red line very early on, saying that if any of those attacks resulted in the death of u.s. service members that it would warrant a much more forceful response, and after the attack that we saw last weekend, obviously there was no question that would then be warranted. so the president obviously making that decision with those thoughts in mind. whether this message though has been received by iran, by these militia groups is still unclear, and really as we wait for whatever phase two of this, what the white house says he's going to be a multi phase

campaign is going to be to retaliate against last weekend's strike, andrea. >> and dan delusive, do we understand when the next series of strikes might happen? >> no, andrea, we don't. they don't telegraph that in advance but i think we will see it probably at some point today. they will want to do it as they say at a time of their choosing. of course it always depends also on intelligence. there are sometimes targets of opportunity as the pentagon describes them. one place to look though is yemen. the houthi forces that have been attacking commercial shipping in the red sea and the gulf of aden with drones and missiles, creating huge problems for the shipping industry, threatening lives there, and keeping the u.s. navy very busy. i think it is possible, maybe not today but soon, that we may seem strikes against those houthi forces in yemen on a much larger scale than we have

seen so far. that is one thing to look for, and then we also have to wonder, do they target iranian ships at sea? probably not, but that would have to be something that they contemplated at minimum, because the iranian ships at sea there in the red sea are helping the houthis target those commercial ships. so that is another factor here. and then we are obviously gonna be looking at the reaction of these iranian proxies after that first phase of strikes yesterday, and how iran reacts today. and again, we are at the beginning of this, and so it is very early to say what the effect is and how this is all going to play out, and the region is on a -- as you know andrea. much is riding on this diplomatic negotiations. meanwhile, to try to lower the temperature between israel and hamas and try to reduce tensions in the region and stop this kind of escalatory cycle that we are in.

>> indeed, and in fact, raf sanchez in tel aviv, the secretary of state again re- packing his bags. this will be his fifth shuttle mission to the region. he will be going to the arab nations, the key arab countries, egypt, qatar, -- and hostage negotiations and then of course to israel. i'm wondering what kind of reception he might be getting there? obviously, israel -- so you're probably not going to much official reaction, but israel will not be unhappy about these attacks against iranian-backed forces. >> absolutely, andrea, just with secretary blinken, he said that this is the most dangerous moment in the middle east since the 1973 war between israel and its arab neighbors, and you are seeing some of the most intensive shuttle diplomacy by an american secretary of state since henry kissinger was here trying to bring an end to that war 50 years ago.

as you said, we have not yet heard any official reaction from the israeli government with shabbat here until the sun goes down. we are likely to see what prime netanyahu has really made it his life's work to push back against iranian influence in the middle east. as you said, he will not be at all sorry to see these strikes israel carrying out its own very extensive campaign of airstrikes across the region against iranian targets. we are hearing from hamas this morning. they are condemning the strikes as part of what they see as joint israeli american aggression across the region from yemen to gaza now to iraq and syria. at this point, andrea, there is no indication that american strikes in iraq and syria would necessarily derail these negotiations, which of course are designed to pause the fighting in gaza, get more humanitarian aid to palestinian civilians and secure the release of at least some of

those hostages. one thing that could derail the talks is if hezbollah were to become involved. we have in that conversation with keir and the admiral earlier. i will just say andrea, the israelis say that hezbollah does not want a full scale war, but they are warning that the status quo with daily hezbollah attacks over the border, 80,000 israeli civilians displaced from their homes in the north, is untenable, and they are warning that there could be a major israeli military operation in southern lebanon if something does not change. andrea? >> and that of course will be a major challenge for the israeli army, for the idf. already weekend by october 7th, trying to rebuild, but they have been withdrawing some troops, trying to get some of those reservists back to work. the economy was being affected as well, so they had hundreds of thousands of troops there, and they have really drawn back quite a bit. not as much as the u.s. had wanted, of course, still wants.

allie raffa, dan de luce, raf sanchez, things to all of you. and the republican say that president biden took too long to -- the death of three american service members in jordan. the white house response when we come back. you are watching a special edition of andrea mitchell reports. this is msnbc. reports. this is msnbc. a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt. detect this: living with hiv, robert learned he can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. that's why he switched to dovato. dovato is a complete hiv treatment for some adults. no other complete hiv pill uses fewer medicines to help keep you undetectable than dovato. detect this: marnina learned that most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. dovato is as effective with just 2. if you have hepatitis b, don't stop dovato without talking to your doctor. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking dofetilide.

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house speaker mike johnson and a number of republican senators are already criticizing the presidents

retaliation, saying that mr. biden waited too long to respond to the deaths of three u.s. service members of jordan. the speaker saying quote, unfortunately the administration waited for weeks and telegraph to the world, including to iran, the nature of our response. joining us now is peter baker, chief white house correspondent the new york times. peter, thank you so much for being on with us today. the president is under a lot of pressure, was under a lot of pressure to respond to the killing of the three service members in jordan, and some republicans, as you know, we're calling for direct strikes against iran territorially. do you think that the strikes so far and the promise of more will quiet the criticism? >> no, i don't think it will quite the criticism. i think the criticism is going to come no matter what, and it did take a number of days, and there was some frustration that it did. there wasn't a faster response. we are in an age of course where we want instant action, and the idea is that the longer you wake, the more you give the other side a chance to harden

their defenses, to escape into the ether and so forth, but the administration says, look they weren't delaying for any particular reason except for the weather. the joint chief says that they took the most advantageous moment to strike when it suited their military needs, and they can obviously strike even in bad weather, and they would prefer to strike most -- they brought these beat twos all the way from texas to do that. and so we haven't seen the end of these strikes. it made very clear last night that it was the beginning of the end, and presumably we will get more over the weekend. we will see what kind of damage is done. it is obviously still early in that regard. we do not know yet the extent of it, but it seems pretty clear the president does not intend to strike inside iran. that, in his view, it's too far of the exculpatory ladder to use the phrase that they like to use, but they may do that at some point down the road, but they don't do it at this point. >> you know, they have long used -- for decades, the use

that original authorization of the use of force for the iraq war as a legal justification for taking a lot of actions in the region. that was finally withdrawn, and now you have got ben cardin, the chairman of the foreign relations committee, complaining that they should've been congressional approval, he said that the forehand, for any middle east strikes. their -- notification probably for the [inaudible] leaders and top committee chairs. do you think that that is an issue? there is always a war powers push and pull through between the congressional branch and the white house. >> yeah, there is obviously, and that is natural with the war powers in our system, and the president take it more and more of that over the years we. but again, i don't know any president that would've gone ahead with a strike like this or waited for congress. at one time, it's not present to that was when president obama waited to decide if

congress decides whether to hit fires against syria for a chemical weapons attack, and ultimately he didn't take that strike. there was reluctance in congress to authorize it, but that wasn't against american troops. in this case, it's a direct response to the killing of three american troops, and that's very traditionally within the commander and chiefs ambit, at least as has been practice in modern times. so yes, there will be tension over that, and there is tension over the provision of weapons for instance to israel without more congressional oversight since the administration has authorized certain weapons to be provided israel without waiting for congress, and i think that has some democrats on the hill frustrated as well. but broadly speaking, you know, the commander-in-chief has a lot of room to operate here. >> and of course you referenced when president obama did not take action when syria cross the red line by -- the used nerve gas, and that ended up,

as you know, weakening the president's hand with a lot of our arab allies. >> it did. it is a lasting issue. we hear that all of the time from people in the middle east about how obama did not follow through on the threat, and that is why i think of course biden understands that he was vice president at the time and he did follow through on his threat here. again, we can argue about whether it's going to be enough and whether or not it will accomplish what he intends to accomplish, but he didn't allow this strike to go unanswered. the trick is of course, you know, he didn't want it to viral into a broad, full fledged war with iran. intelligence on the american side that around doesn't want a full fledged war either, but you can easily see how things could get out of hand. at the same time, if you don't take retaliation strong enough, then all you are going to do is simply keep it going. these low-level attacks, we've had 160 of them since october 7th. the vast majority of them are unsuccessful, but at some point, you get a lucky drone

get through, lucky from the point of the enemy, as it did on sunday, -- >> and of course also balancing the diplomatic initiatives that secretary blinken is about to continue in his fifth shuttle starting tomorrow heading back to the region. peter baker, thank you so much. appreciate it. and coming up next, some final thoughts on this breaking news today of the u.s. air strikes in iraq and syria. you're watching a special edition of andrea mitchell reports. we will be right back. a mitchel reports. we will be right back. itch theis food to the farmer's dog, the effects can seem like magic. but there's no magic involved. (dog bark) it's just smarter, healthier pet food. it's amazing what real food can do. with the majority of my patients with sensitivity i see irritated gums and weak enamel. sensodyne sensitivity gum and enamel it relieves sensitivity helps restore gum health and rehardens enamel. i am a big advocate of recommending things that i know work.

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after the first set of airstrikes in response to the deadly drone attack that killed three american soldiers and jordan last sunday, president biden says that the u.s. does not seek a wider war with iran or to widen the conflict in the region. so how does he balance that message by launching these retaliatory strikes and trying to reserve a separate diplomatic track to get the hostages out? jeremy bash and lieutenant general steph twitty are back with me. so general, how does the u.s. walk this tightrope? a retaliation without widening the conflict? >> it is a tight rope, and i think you see much of what you saw yesterday where we stay focused on those targets that were directly responsible for killing american soldiers.

so you can anticipate a [inaudible] package that the united states central command conducted there, a damage assessment. they will re-strike the targets that they didn't quite destroy from yesterday, but also on that target letter that we called it will probably see forces such as iran's republican guard and iran's quds force that are primarily located in syria that are directly responsible and given a mission from iran to train proxy forces throughout the region. that is who has been given the mission. you can expect that they are on the target list, and you go after those particular targets, and you maintain that focus. probably also you have the houthis on that target list because you know that we have the houthis, they are still

trying to get rid of commercial access as well as attack american forces in the red sea. and so they are probably on at the target list, but i would maintain that focus and not try to attack targets in iran at this point in time because you don't want to tip over into a all out war or further instability in the region. >> and jeremy, you know better than anyone that iran has the ultimate say over what happens in gaza with hamas. let's talk about the diplomatic track for just a moment. we heard some strong statements from hamas, but not as strong as they might have said in the paris agreement that came out last weekend. and benjamin netanyahu as well. israel can say that they are -- out of hand, but his three top intelligence officials signed the text of that document from

assad, shin bet, in the idf, and so israel is all in on this if they can get what they want in terms of the exchange of prisoners for hostages as well as resist the full withdrawal from gaza that the u.s. and qatar and egypt are demanding. when you see this, you know israel so well, the competing forces. he has huge pressure to get the hostages out, and at the same time, there is strong support to defeat hamas, and the generals are telling him, you cannot do both. if you stay and bomb those tunnels, the hostages will die. >> yeah, andrea, i do think the idf has accomplished most of its tactical objectives vis-@- vis degrading hamas in gaza. they have done that in the north and increasingly they have done that in khan yunis in the south. you see over the weekend about the idf now pushing south on board towards rafah. what they haven't done as they haven't gotten sin war, they haven't gotten muhammad if, they haven't gotten some of the

most senior leaders of hamas, but they have taken out about five or seven leaders, and degraded the capabilities. so from the military perspective, israel's mission has been pretty successful. now be beaten netanyahu lives in a democracy. he has a very narrow coalition, and he's under a lot of pressure from this hostage families, and i think that is israel's next move. >> general steph twitty, jeremy bash, thank you so much for coming in this morning. and in london, the streets are filled with protesters calling for a cease-fire in gaza. this is pretty much a weekly occurrence, but there is a very big crowd gathering today as well. joining us now, it is foreign correspondent josh lederman in london. tell us how this is shaping up in terms of allied reaction in europe and in london? >> as you mentioned andrea, -- for sure, we have seen pro palestinian protests on a daily

or weekly basis here, really since the start of this conflict, but this seems to be something that is bigger, and it really is the first significant nationwide protests that we have seen since that international court of justice ruling that ordered israel to do more to prevent a genocide in the gaza strip. so this is a clear sign of how this sentiment has really been building here in the united kingdom, even more so in a lot of ways that we've seen in the united states and other countries, demanding an end to that war, calling for a cease- fire. and there are some real concerns here about how exactly the police should balance the right for free protest, for free assembly, with the ability to keep people safe amid these protests, andrea. >> josh lederman, as always, thanks to you, and that is it for this special edition of andrea mitchell reports. i will be reporting all weekend and back for andrea mitchell reports on monday at 12 noon, 12 eastern on msnbc.

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