your life ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> that's all. protests in iran. anti-government demonstrators take to the streets after iran admits it shot down a civilian plane. the prime minister's apology. he said he could have done a better job handling the country's bush fires. we'll go live to australia. a royal meeting to discuss harry and meghan's future. that will be quite some meeting. welcome to our viewers around the world i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell.

"newsroom" starts right now. thank you for joining us from kiev to ottawa and even tuwant. iran's government is facing outrage after claiming it shot down a passenger jet, 176 people on that plane, most from canada and iran. >> that led to furious scenes like the scene you see here in tehran. a local report for the vigils turned into a demonstration. chanting for the supreme leader to step down and even death to the dictator. iran initially denied it shot down the plane, but a top general says the plane was misidentified as a cruise missile. >> the country was on high alert after it fired missiles at u.s. troop sites in iraq and that came after the u.s. killed

iranian general qassem soleimani. voiced their support for the iranian protesters on twitter and warned against a democratic crackdown. >> canada, ukraine are demanding accountability. >> here's what leaders from those countries are saying. >> translator: i just had a phone conversation with iran and apologized to the relatives of the dead and acknowledged the fact that they shot down a boeing 737. the state will also make ever effort to obtain compensation from the carrier, insurance companies and the islamic republic of iran. i call on all international part nr partners of ukraine and p

participate. all of us need it. >> i am, of course, outraged and furious. that families across this countryerate grieving the loss of their loved ones. many of these families fled the regime and tried to build a better life for them else where and to have a regime that they have left behind accept responsibility for this is a bitter pill, indeed. >> let's take a closer look at what is happening in iran. for that we're joined by nic robertson in abu dhabi. certainly people in the streets of tehran are very upset with the leadership there, understandably, nic. >> the iranian leadership took the decision to come clean on downing the ukrainian passenger jet and cost them international pressure. we heard there from the prime minister of canada, justin

trudeau, that what he says is this is a very good first step for iran and many more first steps need to be taken and clarity needs to be taken and lead to closure for the families of victims of that flight. but perhaps the pressing issue while they deal with this international attention and demand for a full and thorough investigation. it's the domestic pressure that iran is perhaps going to feel in the most immediate term here by announcing that they had downed this aircraft and one of the leading commanders involved saying he had requested that civilian aircraft should be grounded for today. that puts the iranian leadership in a position of appearing callus towards their own citizens on a grand scale because it was the majority of iranians that died when that passenger jet crashed. so, this is what the protests are centering about. in essence, the leadership

doesn't care about the people of iran. this is what we heard. this is a protest at a university in tehran. perhaps several thousand people. they were out at dusk and into the darkness. police did come and break up that protest, but the leadership should accept responsibility and even the supreme leader should step down. from what we are hearing, that is being -- those sentiments are being reflected in a couple more moderate newspapers in tehran today. that said, this is not something that the regime is unused to. containing disquiet on the street of tehran. hundreds of people were killed by the leadership as they try to deal with street protests. >> all right. we appreciate it. nic robertson following developments from abu dhabi, thanks. raises a lot of concerns over aviation security and as we talk more about that we have

philip with us. head of aviation security international. good to have you with us. >> good to be with you, george. >> a commercial plane carried on over sensitive military sites during a time of heightened tensions. what do you make of the break down between aviation authorities and military officials when this happened? >> there clearly was a total break down of communication. there was human error in firing a missile at the aircraft but the failure started way earlier than that and that was the decision. disregard the military requests to close the aircraft and close the air space from the moment that those strikes started against u.s. targets in iraq. when the iranians knew there was the possibility of retaliatory action by the united states against iranian targets. so, absolutely, flights should

have stopped and we saw there were quite a number of flights that departed that morning. qatar departed and any of those could have been the targets, indeed. total failure. and iran must be held responsibility for that. almost more importantly than the actual decision to actually fire the missile. >> when you consider how critical that particular airport is for the nation of iran, certainly there are a lot of questions of why that plane was allowed to fly on. iran claims that the shoot down was unintentional. to prove it was not a deliberate target. even here, evidence will be key. >> well, absolutely. i think, obviously, for the families of the victims onboard they would like to know exactly what happened and we know that the investigation is now under

way. iran will actually have the right to take the lead on that and i'm sure the international community will be putting extreme pressure on them for transparency. indeed, it will be the international aviation community that must ensure that transparency is clear. >> philip, just a question -- pardon me for interrupting. does iran have the trust of other nations going into this investigation given that it outright denied it from the start and then the 180. do they still have that bank of trust to work with here? >> clearly, there is a huge trust issue. the only thing one can say is that eventually they did own up to it and perhaps owned up to it quicker than many others might have expected. we know the ukrainians are going to be involved in the

investigation and the international community. the international aviation community is going to put pressure on and ensure that transparency is achieved and we find out exactly what happened. the black box we know is already going to be examined by the french authorities. there has been agreement there. that is going to provide us with the information. but the reality, as we know, it was a military era that resulted in that aircraft being shot down. that has happened before and that happened to civil aviation before. the ukrainians shut down a siberian airlines flight and ended up paying compensation to the victim's families. and, of course, the americans did the same with the iranian air bus. >> keeping in mind, 2014. russian missile destroyed e malaysian airlines plane. are there take aways from this

particular incident to prevent something like this from happening again? >> always take aways from every tragedy. when people are looking for justice after a tragedy like this one, hopes that part of that justice is ensuring that these tragedies don't happen, again. certainly, a lot of work done by the international aviation community over flight of conflict zones and over flight of areas close to conflict zones. and i'm sure that the airlines involved. i mean, in terms of airline risk assessment. airlines can be part of that process and evaluate risk and certainly imagine that there are a lot of airlines thinking now how can we take proactive measures beyond what our governments are doing to be up from the moment. from the minute the missile strikes started against u.s. targets in iraq, one would hope that in the future that foreign carriers would be perhaps quicker to respond before there

is any governmental intervention. >> philip baum, we appreciate your time live in our london bureau. amid all of this, one of iran's top olympic athletes is defecting. tikw iran's first and only female olympic medalist. but she says on instagram and left for europe and didn't want to be commrplicit in the government's lies. they took me wherever i wanted. i wore whatever they said. every sentence they ordered me to say, i repeated. whenever they say saw fit, they exploited me. i wasn't important to them. none of this mattered to them. we were tools. as you heard so much of this follows the killing of qassem

soleimani by a u.s. drone strike. we take you inside the air base in iraq where u.s. troops road out two hours of missile strikes by iran. a story you'll see exclusively here on cnn. we look at the mixed messages over why the trump administration targeted general soleimani in the first place and how that is playing out politically in the u.s.

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questions continue to swirl over the justification for the killing of qassem soleimani. donald trump blames there was a multiple threat to u.s. embassies and bases. >> cnn white house correspondent jeremy diamond has more on the mixed messages. >> well, it's been more than a week since president trump organized the killing of soleimani but the president and top advisors still seem to be struggling to get their messaging straight as it relates to the operation itself and the intelligence that led up to that operation. questions about the specificity of the intelligence, whether or

not the administration knew where this imminent attack was being planned. listen here to the secretary of the state and the president of the united states. >> soleimani was plotting attacks on diplomats and military personnel. >> if you are looking for imminence you need to look no further than the days leading up to the strike. >> he was looking to blow up our embassy. looking very seriously at our embassies and not just the embassy in baghdad. >> we don't know when precisely when and where, but it was real. >> we had specific information on an imminent threat and continues attacks on u.s. embassies. >> i can reveal that i can reveal it had been four embassies. >> the specificity of the intelligence and where the iranians intended to attack the united states. four embassies. the secretary of state we don't know exactly when or where. but this key question about imminence.

how imminent this threat was to the region. now, the secretary of state has said that it was an imminent threat and he also said he did not know when or where. not just for matters of transparency or better understanding and the rationale they went through with this but the legal justification for this. the trump administration is saying legally it was authorized to carry out the strike on an iranian general because of the fact that there was an imminent threat. and that is certainly sparking questions from congress. now, we are also seeing the president on saturday expressing his support for protests that we're seeing happening in iran. protesters there calling for the resignation of the country's supreme leader after iran mistakenly downed a ukrainian airliner over the skies of iran. the president tweeting to the brave, long suffering people of iran i stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and

my administration will continue to stand with you. we're following your protests closely and inspired by your courage. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. the killing of soleimani now front and center in u.s. politics, especially when it comes to the question of what exactly this imminent threat he posed was or imminent threats. because we heard different things. for more we're joined by a lecturer in international politics at the university of ess essex. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> the different stories we're hearing from the trump administration over why soleimani was killed. even some republicans were skeptical over why there was a plot. what do you make of it? >> well, the thing is, if there was a specific imminent threat to these u.s. embassies as trump has claimed, then people like secretary of state mike pompeo would be able to offer a lot more information about exactly

what was going to happen. but they don't have this information because this may have been a vague threat and we have to, you know, understand that that particular area of the world, there are constant threats to u.s. servicemen. this is not something that is unusual. we don't have any proof that anything was imminent. but what we think may have happened, if you were to read some of the "new york times" reporting was that cia director gina haskel had offered the information to the trump administration that if they did they go after soleimani's iran's response would likely be measured. i think that information was what helped make the decision for trump. this was a top general and this was something that obama or bush didn't want to do because the repercussions could be too deadly, too dangerous and he was giving information that the

response might be measured and this might bring iran's to its knees. we don't have any information about any threat being imminent or anything different from what has been going on in the region for many years now. >> right. and even republican senators rand paul and mike lee both complained about the iran briefing they received from the white house. lee even said it was insulting and demeaning and called it the worst briefing he had ever seen at least on a military issue. how does this look for pompeo and the president? >> they don't look particularly good having heard what mike lee had said about the briefing. he complained about the briefing because it was short. only 75 minutes. they didn't offer any information. they were vague, unclear. and the other thing that upset lee the most was the way in which they spoke to them. they said to the senators or people attending the briefing, don't discuss this.

don't debate this. this isn't up for debate. if you do so, that is only going to make iran stronger. so, they were very clear that this wasn't something that could be debated and, instead, everybody had to tow the line and you can't ask any questions about all these unanswered questions going on whether there was an imminent threat and why we need to do this now. we're seeing a little bit of rumblings of disapproval from the republicans in the senate in addition to mike lee you also have rand paul who also disagrees with this and there will be more and more questions coming from democrats, of course, in the senate who want to know why this needed to happen now. >> right. and all of this happening before the impeachment trial gets under way and we'll see if house republicans are feeling when that happens considering the questions over this incident. natasha, we always appreciate your insights.

thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. >> sure. turning now to the race for the white house. iowa will hold its caucuses kicking off the presidential primary season in little more than three weeks time from now. >> a new cnn poll shows registered voters in iowa are divided on whether the u.s. house made the right decision in impeaching president trump. cnn's kim law is in davenport, iowa. >> as senator bernie sanders held his town hall cnn released a poll of registered iowa voters and their sentiments of president trump and impeachment. those polled said 45% disapprove of house impeachment. 43% approve. looking ahead to the senate trial, 48% say trump should not be removed from office. 40% say he should be removed. whether or not those polled say they would vote for trump if the

election were today, just 34% of registered voters say they would vote for him. 44% say they would vote for someone else. spending the last few days talking to registered voters here in iowa, here's what one republican told us. >> i'm not a trump supporter for many, many reasons. i do not have an appetite for any type of war and what we are involved with overseas as far as the middle east and what happened this week was -- trump almost stepped on a landmine. what happened this week will put a lot more urgency on what is going on more so than the impeachment hearings. >> is it possible that you might caucus with the democrats? >> oh, absolutely. i'm not going to vote for trump, if he's a candidate. absolutely not. >> the man we spoke with says he wants to remain a republican. he wants to vote republican, but

he will not vote for president trump. kyung lah, davenport, iowa. six democrats will take part in the next debate. see it here tuesday 9:00 p.m. on the ground in iraq targeted by a missile strike. hear first-hand accounts from u.s. troops on what happened during that attack. plus, the duke and duchess of sussex have outlined their exit strategy, but the next step is to get the royal family onboard. coming up here, you're watching "cnn newsroom." when we started our business

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welcome back to our viewers here and around the world. i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you at this hour. protesters took to the streets of iran on saturday after officials admitted to shooting down ukrainian passenger jet. that flight was shot down hours after iran launched missiles at u.s. troop sites in iraq. one iranian general says the airline was mistaken for a cruise missile. most of the 176 people on the doomed flight were iranian or canadian. canada's prime minister said he is furious about the lost lives and calls iran's admission a

bitter pill. justin t justin trudeau said iran must take full responsibility. hours before iran mistakenly shot down the ukrainian plane, u.s. troops were taking cover from an iranian missile strike on the al asad. arwa damon spoke with troops about the moments leading up to the attack. >> these were living quarters, sleeping quarters. the troops that lived here lost everything. there was very little, if anything that was salvageable because there was also a fire that ended up raging here for a few hours after the missile impacted in this particular area. the reason why no one was killed, not here, not in any of the other locations of impact,

is because there was advanced warning. we don't know what. we don't know how. that is very sensitive information. but we are told that hours before the attack even began, they knew something was happening. they just did not know specifically what it was going to be. so, precautions were taken. by 11:00 p.m., troops who could hunker down were hunkered down in bunkers. some of them in saddam-era bunkers. others had to man their post because of the security situation. they were still out there and then the strikes began at about 1:34 in the morning. this is the crater left behind by one of them. there are so many stories that we're hearing of heroics. so many stories that we're hearing of really extraordinary close calls. those who lived through this say that it's clear that iran wasn't

that concerned with trying to save u.s. lives. a lot of these impacts did happen in places where they could potentially have caused significant u.s. casualties and this is lieutenant colonel stacy coleman. we were speaking all day. you are telling us, what was that night like. how do you begin to describe it? >> it is hard to describe it. extremely scary. some of my team and myself were hunkered down in one of those bunkers and when the first wave started hitting you could feel the shockwave and even inside the bunker the pressure was so strong that we watched our bunker door sink inside the bunker and escape back out. about seven of the impacts were in very close proximity to where we were hunkered down. like i said, you could feel every last one of the shockwaves. it was extremely scary. >> and very lucky or was it the

training, the precautions that were taken that there were no u.s. casualties. >> i say it was a combination of god looking out for us. it was a combination of, you know, the little bit of intel and advance warning that we got and then it was the smart commanders on the ground making on-spot decisions to get people out of harm's way. >> and how do you begin to describe, i mean, what this was like and then, of course, what kind of security precautions you're having to take now given the situation. >> this was, like i said, we knew something was happening, but we didn't know exactly what. as the time grew closer, we kind of felt like we had an indication of what it might be, but we still weren't certain. we had advance warning that there may be some rockets followed by a base incursion. we had to keep our security forces out to make sure we were

safe from that. a good number of folks out along the perimeter and within the air field keeping it secure. >> out there on the perimeter keeping it secure while these missiles are coming in. >> yes, they were outside during every last one of the missile strikes. >> well, it would seem that it was very fortunate and also as we've been saying because of this advance warning that exists, because of these precautions that were taken, there is the sense that while this phase of what is unfolding has concluded. every one here is still very much on high alert. arwa damon, cnn, al asad air base, iraq. australia's prime minister admit some fault as bush fires rage and another firefighter dies fighting the flames. we'll go through live.

three weeks alone in the wilderness, we'll tell you how one man survived.

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." the situation. between the u.s. and iran has put iran in the crosshairs of the conflict with people who are concerned about what is happening. let's go live to baghdad with sam kylie on the story. sam, always good to have you with us. the heightened tensions with iraq both physically caught in the middle, a balancing among iraq's leaders when it comes to u.s. presence in the country and iranian influence to push the u.s. out. >> yeah, very delicate balancing act, indeed. at the moment you have a situation in which the iraqi prime minister mandated by his parliament, but only by a slim of overwhelming sheer, hardline members of parliament is

required to ask the united states to withdraw its troops from the country. now, he's a lame duck president having resigned already as a consequence of the anti-government and anti-iranian and street protests that have been rocking this country now for some couple of months at least, george. so, you have that situation. he's already said to mike pompeo in his version of the conversation that he wants to begin those negotiations. mike pompeo said that is not what was said in a recent phone call. you have shia militia here. the two main ones designated by the united states as terrorist organizations. the u.s. definition threatening to go to war effectively to drive the americans out of the country and then you have a substantial part of the iraqi body politic and, indeed, of the population who don't want the united states to go prematurely given that the war against the so-called islamic state is still ongoing and that the air assets

and the training, in particular, the five plus thousand american troops here on the ground. they're a essential part of them. from the american side, they're still prosecuting a war against so-called islamic state and need iraqi bases to do that. amidst all this, george, you have as arwa has been reporting this very accurate and substantial military attack by the iranians on usa.s u.s. air that the americans may have been able to stop. there were no casualties, but as you see from arwa's report, they were very accurate and some pretty startling intelligence about location and potential targets on their air base. that is a signal, too, that the iranians remain, albeit, under stringent and economic

sanctions, they remain a potent conventional force as well as having the shia militia that could act on their behalf on the ground. >> sam kylie live for us in baghdad, iraq. sam, thank you for the reporting. we now turn to australia where amid mounting criticism, the prime minister scott morrison is admitting to making some mistakes in his response to the bush fires devastating the country. >> there were things that i could have handled on the ground much better. these are very raw, emotional environments. i have to say that 95% were the response of these cases were very positive and appreciative. david, these are sensitive environments and very emotional environments. prime ministers are flesh and blood and have engage with people. >> mr. morrison also said he will pose a natural review. the sydney opera house lit with

images of firefighters as a tribute to them and the ravage communities. a 66-year-old firefighter died while on duty saturday. at least 28 people have been killed in the fires. new south wales is one of the hardest hit states and that is where we find our will ripley. we just heard from the prime minister, but it still kind of seems like his confessions seem kind of on the light side. >> scott morrison has gotten a lot of flack here in australia because he was a long-time climate change skeptic and in his interview he did acknowledge climate change is a factor in these wildfires and he also point to the fact that there have been arrests. two dozen arrests for arson. either way, humans are the cause whether it be climate change or whether it be people intentionally setting and also, of course, a historic drought, a

record heat wave which has been getting a little bit of a break right now. but the question on a lot of people's mind what happened when temperatures go back up. last week well over 100 degrees here. today in the mid-60s. that is seasonably low when temperatures go back to normal or to the heat wave, there is a lot of concern that the fires will reignite and they kind of slowed down for the moment and people are concerned that morrison continues to defend, you know, australia's coal industry. this is the world's leading exporter of coal and vital part of the australian economy and also one of the slowest countries to enact reforms when it comes to climate change. given the fact that they're now ground zero, living through an event that is a direct result analysts believe of climate change or climate change being a major factor, people are saying when is the government here going to wake up and do something to prevent this kind of problem before this becomes a regular occurrence. you already have a fire that

burned an area the size of u.s. state of massachusetts, rhode island and connecticut combined, natalie. >> he is almost still championing coal at a time when people are dying and the country is burning. it's just hard to fathom why there isn't a strong response. what are the people there saying about the latest that he has said because he certainly has been harassed and heckled when he tried to visit people who have suffered and who have lost everything. >> had another firefighter die here last night. a 60-year-old father of two who had a tree fall on him. people are angry. they call him an idiot and heckled him on the ground. prioritizing optics over action. when you have a situation where 60,000 people's homes and lives are at risk, optic are simply not enough.

>> will in , thank you so much. we'll talk with you, again. here on the u.s. east coast many people woke up or dealt with storms overnight. very strong, dangerous storms hitting many parts of the united states. more than 20 million people under a flood watch and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses out of power across several states. the storm is also creating several tornadoes. >> wide spread, too. i don't know about you guys driving to work no street lights, no power in many areas. >> point to our west, louisiana, there were fatalities and it's been a very difficult day for people. the past 48 hours to say the least. nine fatalities iinjuries, as w. the strong, state line wind that pressed through the eastern third of the country just taking vehicles, tossing them like they were toy cars and, also, on the cold side of the storm.

we'll take you to milwaukee. this was the port of milwaukee. they had 15-foot waves pile up on the west coast of the lake michigan shoreline. they have suffered with near or at record levels on the great lakes this particular year. when you factor in strong, it causes flooding in this very important port located in wisconsin. the latest figures. 200,000 or more people without power, particularly over the eastern coastline. you can see the hardest hit states and this is impressive. we're talking about nearly 500 severe wind reports across the eastern u.s. and many of which are downed power line, downed trees and damage to houses. look at that. over ten tornadoes reported with several reports of large hail. large storm system impacting the great lakes all the way to the new england coast line.

i drew an arrow to give you a report and we are talking 1,500 miles from the north side to the south side. still about 20 million americans under flood watches or warnings or advisories as we speak because the river levels here are extremely high because of the copious amounts of rain that the storm left behind. the good news is that the bulk of the precipitation coming to an end slowly but surely across northern new england and we are experiencing some ice. we canceled the ice storm warning but look at northern new york into new hampshire and maine. some of our computer models depicting ice on top of that. a difficult next 12 hours. the system will be gone as we wake up on sunday morning for most people, but you can see a little flare up of thunderstorms and snow, once again, to make matters worse across the great lakes. it is a difficult weather pattern to say the least for many. >> derek, thank you. the british royal family will meet monday to discuss the

future of the duke and duchess. >> been in crisis mode since the stunning decision to step back from royal duties. to talk more about it, anna stewart. >> crisis talks in the royal households. but the queen herself instructing that these happen at pace. the palace source told cnn that these talks may soon bear fruit. a meeting is set in the queen's estate on monday. it will be attended by her majesty, prince charles, prince william and prince harry. notably absent, of course, will be meghan, the duchess of sussex. she returned to canada shortly after the announcement earlier in the week. a range of possibilities are going to be discussed at the meeting. although talks have happened very fast, the implementation of any one of these plans we're

told will take some time. opinion in the uk has been highly divided over the duke and duchess' decision and also the way they communicated it to the public and to the royal family. critics of the duke and duchess say they shouldn't be able to earn money independently and attain royal titles. some say they should have to pay rentwindsor and security costs, as well. many people also say, however, they should do whatever they want and live wherever they like. now in the past, any royal family member that has stepped down or stepped aside has been due to scandal or divorce. so, we're really in unchartered territory here. determines to navigate it and move on. anna stewart, london, cnn. >> we'll be finding out about that one. >> very personal, i'm sure, for them. imagine if you could finding yourself cold and alone in the alaskan wilderness.

>> i would rather not. just ahead, the extraordinary story of one man's fight to fight harsh conditions. we'll have the story, next.

here's an amazing story of courage to bring you. a utah man survived alone in the alaskan wilderness for three weeks after his home burned to the ground. just incredible. the police rescued him just last week after he flagged down state troopers in a helicopter. cnn's polo sandoval has the story. >> you were partially -- >> reporter: from high above, it's hard to imagine tyson's sense of relief as state troopers circled above the wilderness. it's where the 30-year-old survived after the remote hut he lived in went up in flames in december. after his thursday rescue, steel recounted rushing out with only a few supplies, his beloved chocolate lab, phil, did not make it out alive. >> i sat down on the ground for a while like just was cold,

right. i didn't have any socks in my boots. and i was just wearing pajamas at that point and a t-shirt. >> reporter: fresh after his return to civilization, he shared his detail account. he describes sleeping in a snow cave. i just huddled into that dark cave and i slept, he told troopers. it was warm. warmer than outside. he later scavaged for tarps to build a tent around his wood stove. you could see it feet away from his sos carved into the snow. he rationed his 30 days of food. >> i was grateful all my bullets blew up because that could have been a temptitatiation. i am not going to make it. it's a very real thought that

crept up almost daily, especially real cold nights. >> reporter: steele told his rescuers he will head to his family in salt lake for now. his plan is to return to the alaskan wilderness he calls home and rebuild. polo sandoval, cnn, new york. >> step one, build a snow cave. the day's top stories are just ahead here. >> "newsroom" is back after the break. stay with us. when we started our business

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outrage in iran. protesters call for the supreme leader to step down after the ukrainian airliner tragedy. the u.s. president standing with the demonstrators. we'll have that. also ahead here this hour. >> these were living quarters, sleeping quarters. the troops that lived here lost everything. >> an inside look at the wreckage on the u.s. base targeted by iranian air strikes. hear from the troops that were there. later, the royal saga continues. a palace source telling us that queen elizabeth has ordered an emergency family meeting over the steps now being taken by the royals. >> all eyes will be on that. >> me googhan and harry, yes, s. live from cnn world headquarters, welcome to viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm george howell. >> i'm