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joe biden takes military action for the first time as president launching an airstrike on iran-backed militias in syria. we're live in the region. also ahead, a severe blow to folks for a $15 minimum wage in the u.s. as a senate official rules it can't be in the coronavirus relief. proud boys leader speaks to

cnn. welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom. " the u.s. launched airstrikes thursday against iranian backed militants in syria. they were retaliation from this one in irbil. it killed a contractor and wounded a number of americans. it killed a handful of militants on the syrian side. ordering the strikes was joe biden's first military action as president. we get more from cnn's oren lieberman at the pentagon. >> reporter: the airstrike against the site along the iraq/syrian border is the first

military action. secretary of defense lloyd austin said it was his recommendation and biden gave the final authorization on thursday morning. they said up to a handful of militants were killed in that airstrike. they come after a series of rocket attacks against u.s. and coalition attacks in erbil and then the green zone in baghdad itself. austin said it's part of the messaging here and john kirby backed this up. there will be a response and second to deter future rocket attacks. they made it clear it was iranian backed shia militias that struck the u.s. air force and it was the same militias responsible for the rocket attacks. up until now the u.s. hadn't attributed it to anyone and now pinpointing it on iranian backed shia militias. this comes at a crucial time for

the biden administration when it comes to iran when it tries to figure out what to do and how to work diplomatically about iran's nuclear program. oren lieberman, cnn, the pent gone. cnn's ben wedeman is live in erbil, iraq. a small calculated strike. what do you make of the size and scope of this response? >> reporter: i think there is a message being sent by the americans that the 15th of february attack on the erbil airport and other parts of the town and that the occasional missile and mortar strikes on the green zone in baghdad where the u.s. embassy is located will not go without a response. however, as was made clear by american officials, this was a limited response. apparently president biden was presented with a range of

possibilities, some of them -- some of the strikes being proposed much harder, but this was limited. so it was a careful message. now we have in the meantime, kim, gotten some more information on that strike. cnn was able to speak with a resident in the syrian town which is right on the border between -- on the syrian side of the syrian/iraqi border on the tigress river. they said that at 1:30 a.m. local time residents there were woken by a series of very loud blasts. those blasts were coming from the direction of the imam alley. that is a base where hezbollah, the iraqi version of hezbollah, supported by iran does operate.

that is an area of syria where they have been present for quite some time. it is important to know this border is very porous. the syrian government obviously turns a blind eye to military forces, militias that are there and have in the past fought on behalf of the syrian regime against its various opponents, so even though the strike was in syria, it does have real impact on the ground here in iraq which is essentially a battleground, not necessarily always military, politically and otherwise between iran and the united states. it's a complicated situation and it's hard to tell whether this overnight strike by the united states on these targets is going to de-escalate the situation or

have the opposite effect. you don't know at this point how many there were, fatalities, in this airstrike. >> all right. thanks so much. great to have you there in erbil. ben wedeman, we appreciate it. president biden and the king of saudi arabia have spoken by phone. they have reaffirmed the importance but by speaking with the king and not the crown prince, it is a strategic reset after the trump era. the white house record doesn't show they spoke about the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi. its release is considered imminent. the president had said he would speak to the saudi king first before making the report public. joe biden's hopes to hike the u.s. federal minimum wage to $15 an hour took a hit when the senate parliamentarian ruled

against including the raise in the covid relief bill. it could make it easier for the democrats to adopt the enormous $1.9 trillion relief bill. >> reporter: this is an unemployment line in florida. >> the american people are struggling. >> reporter: president joe biden is hoping his $1.9 trillion relief package will help. the house votes on it today. it's sweeping and controversial. republicans say it's too big. some calling it, quite, a liberal wish lisch. >> list. >> this is the wrong plan at the wrong time. >> what would they have me cut? >> how much time do you have, mr. president, to go through the litany of things. >> reporter: democrats argue it's all related to the pandemic. >> we are still in a stark crisis with the health of the economy. >> covid-19 pandemic is a once in a century tragedy. it requires a once in a century

congressional response. >> reporter: what does it include? $1400 stimulus checks, nutrition assistance, housing assistance, boost in tax credits, optional paid sick and family leave, funding for education and child care, health insurance subsidies, more money for small businesses, billions in aid to states and increased support for vaccines and testing, but one item that won't be in the senate version, the $15 federal minimum wage hike. it's a disappointment for many democrats, but it might be the cut needed to get the bill across the finish line. >> you have to pass it or make sure it gets implemented as soon as possible. to capitol hill now where u.s. lawmakers have been pressing for answers about the failed police response of january 6th attack. and the acting chief of the capitol police warns that security threats still face congress. cnn's jessica schneider has details from washington. >> reporter: growing frustration

from lawmakers. >> why wouldn't we have been prepared for the worst case scenario. that's what the average american is sitting home thinking about. >> reporter: the acting chief of police and sargeant at arms grilled on their preparedness and the breakdown in communication for police officers on january 6th. >> getting leadership and no direction, there was no coordination and you could see the fear in their eyes. >> reporter: acting chief pittman admitted there were failures. >> when there is a breakdown, you look for those commanders with boots on the ground to provide that instruction. that did not happen primarily because those operational commanders at the time were so overwhelmed. on january 6th hour incident command protocols were not adhered to as they should have. >> reporter: but pittman also pushed back to the disbelief of the committee that even if leadership had seen that fbi

bulletin that warned rioters pledged to go to war at the capitol, capitol police would not have planned any differently. >> even if it had moved up the chain you wouldn't have done anything differently. >> reporter: that is correct, sir. we do not believe that that document in and of itself would have changed our posture. we believe it was consistent with the information and intelligence that we already had. >> reporter: for the first time pittman disclosed just how many people came to the capitol. >> i think that we were well in excess of 10,000 that traversed the grounds, but as far as the numbers that actually came into the building, we estimate that that was approximately 800 demonstrators. >> reporter: and pittman warned that the fencing and security will remain around the capitol for now because the threat from extremists is still looming. >> they want to blow up the capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the state of the union which we know that date has not been

identified. >> reporter: pittman stressed the fencing is not permanent but it will remain until more physical upgrades are in place. this enhanced security is already coming at a steep cost. it amounts to $2 million per week. on wednesday we'll hear testimony from the fbi, dhs and defense department about their role before, during and after january 6th. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. many members of the proud boys have been charged for their roles in the insurrection. what are they thinking about it now? take a listen to this. >> i think right now is a time to go ahead and overthrow the government by becoming the new government and running for office. >> sara sidner's exclusive interview with one of the proud boy's leaders is just ahead. across the u.s. people are

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u.s. president joe biden is halfway towards his administration's goal of giving 100 million vaccinations in 100 days. on thursday he marked reaching 50 million shots. he's been in office just over 36 full days. while mr. biden warned there's still a long way to go, he celebrated his administration's hard work. >> the weeks before i became president the previous administration saw 6 million shots administered. this coming week we will administer over 12 million shots, double the pace in just six weeks that we've been in office. >> and the u.s. could have a new vaccine option as soon as next week. regulators will meet in the coming hours to discuss johnson & johnson's vaccine candidates and the green light could come this weekend. amara walker has that along with the concerns about the rapid spread of new covid variants. >> reporter: in the battle

against the spread of covid-19, new variants making a race to get americans vaccinated all the more urgent. >> today what we're seeing is a barrage of these new variants coming forward. >> reporter: experts are increasingly concerned about the rapid spread of covid-19 variants including new home grown variants found in california, new york and the northeast. >> while we need to be concerned about what we're seeing in new york and california or in other places around the world, we can't take our eye off what i think is the single most important variant now in our headlights that is the b. 117. >> the seven day daily average has ticked up to more than 72,000 in the last month. daily covid deaths dropped 30% and hospitalizations have decreased by 51%. a new cdc forecast released wednesday projects the daily covid-19 death rate will continue to slow in the coming

weeks, but they're also preparing for all scenarios, including the possibility of another surge. >> what we don't know is the view of how the vaccine will handle the variant. >> reporter: vaccine makers pfizer and moderna are testing out new strategies to get ahead of the variants. pfizer announced this morning they are testing how well a third vaccine dose targets new coronavirus variants and moderna announced it was producing a version of its vaccine to protect against mutations found in the variant first identified in south africa. the company said the formula will be tested as a booster shot and a primary vaccine against the strain for individuals who have yet to be vaccinated. >> we might ask the people that are waiting so others who don't have any immunity can get back. >> reporter: but if you've already had covid-19, the cdc director is asking people who have already been exposed to wait for others to get the vaccine first. although it's not officially a cdc guideline.

and with more than 20 million americans having been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, the u.s. is one step further to having a third vaccine to distribute after a vaccine like pfizer and moderna do. the white house adding you should get any vaccine available. >> the sooner we get vaccine into the arms of individuals, whatever that vaccine is, once it gets by the fda for an eua, if it's available, get it. >> reporter: they could sign off on emergency use as early as friday, but getting shots in arms still moving slower than hoped. georgia this week opened four mass vaccination sites around the state but they're not seeing the numbers they had planned on. >> i don't think we're going to get quite there because we're just not getting the turnout in some of our places. >> reporter: the georgia emergency management agency administrator talking about low turnout in albany three hours south of here. there were so many doses left over they had to reallocate them at the three other mass

vaccination sites. also, the georgia governor brian kemp announcing on thursday that he will be expanding eligibility of the vaccine to include educators and k-12 staff, adults with intellectual disabilities and children with parents of complex conditions. u.s. lawmakers have adopted the equality act. three republicans joint house members to pass it. it amends the civil rights act of 1964 to protect people from discrimination based on gender, identity and sexual orientation in employment, housing, and services like restaurants. in a tweet president biden called transgender rights human rights and called for the senate to also adopt the act. a former u.s. gymnastics coach has committed suicide after he was charged with human trafficking. a statement from michigan's attorney general said john

geddert's body was found on thursday afternoon. he had been expected to turn himself in and be arraigned on 24 criminal felonies including the abuse of young gymnasts including 20 accusations of human trafficking and two for criminal sexual conduct. u.s.a. gymnastics has been rocked by abuse allegations where many athletes were victimized. still ahead, president biden orders military airstrikes in syria. we'll have the details and a live report from london coming up. plus, more details on the ruling against the $15 an hour minimum wage in the u.s. stay with us. infused with natural essential oils into a mist. to awaken your home with an experience you can see, smell, and feel. it's air care, redefined. air wick essential mist. connect to nature.

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welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber and you're watching "cnn newsroom." just over a month into his first term and joe biden has ordered the first known military strike of his presidency. targets were iranian backed militia which were behind three separate attacks on u.s. assets in iraq. the erbil airport came under mortar and rocket fire. a u.s. contractor was killed and five americans wounded. nick roberts is joining us. this is biden's first use of forces. this is a marked difference from the trump administration's approach in dealing with iran's proxies. a lot more measured. so what message does this send

to iran? and what implications might there be for the nuclear deal? >> reporter: well, it sends a number of messages to iran, and that is president biden is going to be tough where he sees eye rai rainian-backed militias attacking u.s. interests and endangering u.s. and coalition personnel. there have been three attacks recently, the one in erbil a couple of weeks ago, the one on the green zone in baghdad and another one at a base -- a coalition base north of baghdad. so what we're being told by the secretary of defense lloyd austin is that these were proportionate. the targets were carefully selected that were known to be linked to the groups behind those attacks. in fact, what has been targeted appears to be positions along -- at a border between iraq and

syria on the syrian side and the implications of that are that whatever interests and perhaps control of the border and money gathering interests that those militia had in that area, that's going to be hampered. i think the bigger message in the region is that the united states will stand up to what it says iran destabilizing influences in the region. that's a very important message. ally saudi arabia and speaking with the saudi king talking about iran, talking about being tough on iran's destabilizing influence in the reason gone. as we stand at the moment, president biden has said he's willing to get back into the multi-national jcpoa nuclear deals with iran without iran having to make good on all the place that is it has stepped out of the terms of that agreement so far. iran has not responded yet to that and there's a real fear

that iran may make a miscalculation in thinking that biden's going to be soft and this action will very much show that he is going to be tough where he sees he needs to be tough. >> interesting. all right. thank you so much for that analysis. nic robertson in london. the senate parliamentarian has ruled against including an increase in the u.s. federal minimum wage in the covid relief bill. the parliamentarian ruled that the hike to $15 an hour didn't meet a strict set of guidelines needed to move forward. president biden was disappointed with the decision but respected it. >> reporter: ken jacobs, the chair of berkley lakebor center. thank you for joining us. are you surprised, disappointed with the ruling? >> definitely disappointed. always knew this was going to be a little bit of a long shot but

the minimum wage clearly does have major effects on the federal budget in a myriad of ways. there was a good argument to be made that it should have been allowed in by the reconciliation. >> getting away from the politics of it, let's say on the merits, why should the minimum wage have been hiked up at a time when, you know, businesses are under such strain? >> well, the minimum wage in the united states has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. that's the longest we've gone without an increase since congress passed the fair labor standards since 1978. the minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour where it's been since 1991, 30 years ago. so a $15 minimum wage would raise wages for nearly 32 million people. one in five workers, all 1/3 of

black workers and 1/4 of all la teep know workers. >> on the other side, the most frequent argument against it made by many republicans and many business leaders, it will cost jobs and the congressional budget office says it could cost some 1.4 million jobs. that's especially worrying for many small business owners. so what have you learned from the california experience where you are which has been phasing in a $15 minimum wage for large employers and $13 for smaller companies? >> california's minimum wage will reach $15 for all employers in a couple of years. it already is 15 in some of our larger cities. and there's been a wide range of research on minimum wage effects over the last two decades, especially in recent years. and what that research has found is that minimum wage laws do what they're supposed to do. they increase wages and earnings

for low wage workers without having measurable effects on employment. and in this case the cbo usually does very good work. in this case i think they're at odds with the empirical literature. >> some of that does suggest businesses, many restaurants, for instance, ones that are struggling, this pushes them over the edge, right? >> the original minimum wage was passed in the united states in 1938 in the midst of the great depression because what policy makers and economists understood at the time was for businesses to grow and for small businesses to grow, they need consumers. people and low wage workers spend their money and they tend to spend it in the local economy so the evidence here is that minimum wages worked to reduce turnover, they work to improve workers' wages. there are positive effects on

productivity and overall we're just not seeing those negative effects on employment. >> so let me jump in and turn this to the future since, you know, any increase in the minimum wage now would need bipartisan support. democrats will have to compromise. what's the most important thing here to salvage? is it that it's a national increase that applies everywhere even though there are, you know, regional differences maybe that should be taken into consideration or is it the amount that should be as high as possible or do they have to compromise on that? there have been some republican proposals that it should be lower. >> well, we need a much higher national, and at $15 by 2025 is a reasonable proposal and a reasonable wage to get there. the key thing right now is to go as far as they can in raising the minimum wage.

$15 minimum wage has incredibly broad popular support. raising the minimum wage in terms of the voters, it's a bipartisan issue. you have over 80% of voters support raising the minimum wage and that's strong majorities of democrats, republicans and independents. in fact, in the last election a $15 minimum wage was on the ballot in florida, a state trump won, and it won with 60% of the vote. this is a place that the voters have really been very clear on and where congress should act. >> thank you so much for joining us today, ken jacobs. really appreciate it. >> thank you. just ahead on "cnn newsroom," cnn's exclusive interview with the leader of the far right group the proud boys. his reaction to the capitol riots and much more. stay with "cnn newsroom."

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a disturbing warning from the acting chief of u.s. capitol police. she says right wing extremists want be to, quote, blow up the capitol building during the state of the unnon address. the extraordinary statement came during a hearing on security failures on january 6th. members of the proud boys have been arrested on that day. the often violent all male group are known as western chauvinists and its leaders spoke exclusively with our sara sidner. >> i'm not going to sympathize with them. >> reporter: the leader of the proud boys is talking about members of congress who feared for their lives on january 6th. >> everybody stay down. >> reporter: as a mob attacked the capitol. >> they shouldn't have reached the capitol. >> reporter: he says that now with the day after the violent

breach he posted this, a picture on social media of members of congress trying to hide as the attackers began their siege. you write when the people fear the government there is tyranny. when the government fears the people there is liberty. doesn't that show you are celebrating terrorizing people. >> i was celebrating. i'll tell you, i'll celebrate the moment the government does fear the people. at that point -- again, i didn't have all the information that came in, why they were cowering or anything like that. >> reporter: do you wish you didn't do that now that you know? >> no. another thing is i'll never regret something that i said. >> reporter: they are doing the job that the people put them there to do and if they don't like it, they can vote them out. they are still americans. they are still human beings who felt that their lives were in danger. how can you not feel any sympathy or any empathy towards them like that? >> i'm not going to worry about people that their only worry in

life is to be -- >> a whole lot of proud boys here. >> reporter: he was not there on january 6th. he was arrested in d.c. two days before for burning a black lives matter flag stolen from a church and having empty weapons magazines that are illegal. >> you're walking with the proud boys but a group of proud boys was there. the far right group is known across the country for brawling with antifa, a left wing antifar schist movement. they are also known for throwing their support behind donald trump whose words to them in september presidential debate exploded their popularity. >> proud boys, stand back and stand by. >> i think we've doubled in numbers since the debate. >> reporter: tario has close ties with one of trump's longest serving advisers and friends, roger stone. stone was in d.c. on january 6th as people rallied against the election results that showed trump lost. stone did not march to the capitol and wasn't charged with a crime.

instead, stone was seen with members of extremist groups like the oath keepers and proud boys who have now become a central focus of law enforcement in the capitol attack investigation. tario had such a close relationship with roger stone he revealed this. you have access to roger stone's phone? >> a couple times when i went to go see him -- >> reporter: tario's access to that phone landed him in front of a federal grand jury, a idea tail not revealed until now. at the time stone was facing seven charges in the russia probe including lying to congress and witness tampering. trump hardened him after he was convicted on all seven charges. during his trial stone was accused of threatening the judge in the case with a social media post. image of a judge and what appeared to be a target behind her head. >> i actually testified in front of a grand jury but, no, there

was no -- that picture was brought up on a google search, right? so you used to be able to s search, not now obviously -- >> wait. back up. back up. did you just say you were on a grand jury panel? you did. too late to take it back now. >> that's a story -- that's not the secret. that's the story that came out, you know, that they wanted to see if -- who was it that posted it at that point. the actual cross hairs isn't really a cross hairs, it's the logo of the organization that wrote the article so it was just like a graphic and then that was posted. i have no idea who actually posted it but i know that i had nothing to do with it. >> u.s.a. u.s.a. >> reporter: stone is one of the architects of the stop the steal rallying cry, but tario does not buy into the lie that the election was stolen. he says he just wants more

transparency. do you believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from donald trump? >> no, i don't. i don't believe that the election was stolen. >> reporter: and yet he encouraged his proud boys to show up on january 6th in record numbers. >> here's all the proud boys, guys. >> reporter: a group of them did show up. here they are marching together towards the capitol. at least eight proud boys tario knows have been charged in the capitol siege. this is one of them using a police officer's shield to bust out a window in the capitol allowing people to flood in. >> i condemn the actions. i don't think that he should have done that. i think it was completely wrong but the other seven individuals were trespassing. i think that they got caught up with the entire -- like the entire crowd and they made a poor decision. >> reporter: members of the proud boys didn't appear to just be getting caught up in this, some of them were leading this attack. you had people removing barriers who were proud boys, had you

someone threatening an officer, breaking the capitol window. they weren't just following in this insurrection, it appears that some of them were leading the charge. >> no, those three accusations, i do want to touch on those. the breaking of the window we've already hit. the -- >> reporter: you think that's wrong? >> yeah, definitely. unequivocally i do. the threatening of police officers, i didn't see that. >> reporter: the feds have. they have video of william pressman yelling you shoot and i'll take your [ bleep ] out. >> reporter: >> as of right now i can't tell you about pressman because i can't locate who he's affiliated with. >> reporter: kresman's defense attorney said he was just following trump's orders. tario said some who did reach the capitol are unfairly being charged with conspiracy. did the proud boys have a

plan -- >> to go into the capitol? >> reporter: into the capitol. he puts some of the blame of what happened on january 6th on police for being unprepared to thwart the mob. >> [ bleep ]. >> reporter: and he claims some simply walked in to record history. >> there's nobody that stopped them from going in. you feel like it's something wrong that they shouldn't do. >> reporter: but are you blaming the police for telling people not to break the law? >> no, i'm not blaming the cops at all. >> reporter: what are you saying? >> i can blame the police officers and the feds for their inability to respond to us. was it a mistake to go in. >> reporter: was it? >> yes. >> reporter: do you condemn those people? can you say that? >> i can't say that. >> reporter: why not? >> because i think condemn is a strong word and a little too strong. >> reporter: he thinks the fbi is trying to make an example of the proud boys but tario has a history after being sentenced to federal prison for fraud in

2012. >> were you ever an informant for the fbi? >> i was -- to put it simply, i was put in a very tough situation where the federal government had wanted me to testify against my brothers. >> reporter: he said he refused and instead his defense attorney said tario cooperated with the fbi and other law enforcement on many cases, one involving prescription drugs. another a marijuana raid. an illegal gambling bust and more. tario would only admit to cooperating on one case. >> the only thing that i actually gave them was the human trafficking rings. again, i'm not going to apologize for that. >> reporter: what is next for the proud boys and the country, tario has already made a plan. >> i think right now is a time to go ahead and overthrow the government by becoming the new government and running for

office. >> reporter: henry enrique tario said he himself is looking at potentially running for office. he said he may even step down as chairman of the proud boys to concentrate on that and help others with like minds do the same. still to come on "cnn newsroom," u.s. financial markets ended thursday very much in the red. we'll tell you what's been happening with the volatile wall street. stay with us. have high blood p. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol®. it won't raise blood pressure the way that advil® aleve® or motrin® sometimes can. for trusted relief, trust tylenol®.

it was another rough day for the u.s. markets. the dow fell 559 points on thursday, one day after setting a new all-time high. stock in video game retailer gamestop was on another roller coaster ride. cnn's emerging markets editor john defterios is following us from abu dhabi. what the heck is going on here? >> reporter: that's a good way of putting it here, kim. everyone thought it was a one-way bet unless you were trying to get into the market in the last 24 hours and it went south in a very big way. three forces at play right now, which is very difficult because

we saw the ten-year bond or u.s. interest rates go up 1.6%. recovering a bit but they rose on the fears of inflation and this $1.9 trillion stimulus package which has a house vote today and stimulus vote and then as you suggested, game stop is basically the brand for the posse of day traders that have been driving stocks up and down. we had a swing of 160% for game s gamestop alone. market strategists are suggesting on wall street that the bubbles are forming and it's a signal to the u.s. federal reserve. let's take a listen. >> i think it should send a message to the federal reserve. there is a price for having easing liquidity and it is fueling some bubbles in different areas. you know, i think for long-term investors you have to realize you have your vegas money and your long-term investment money. your long-term investment money should not be put into things that do not make fundamental

sense. >> reporter: that's the challenge right now. there is speculation rampant globally. let's take a look at what happened in asia which took it on the chin. we had toek joe down 4%. hong kong down at the low for the session, 3.6%. shanghai down 2%. you see the difference for seoul that's the market up for 45% in the last year. bitcoin's facing some selling pressure but it's off its lows for the day down 3.4% at 46,500. it was down 6% earlier in the session. if you were looking for a silver lining right now, that's u.s. futures. trading just above the line. we have european markets just below the line because the 10-year yield is recovering and the interest rate is falling and then they allow a smoother finish to the week after the last 24 hours, kim. >> we can use that for sure. thank you so much, john deftarios in abu dhabi.

well, los angeles police have released new surveillance video showing the moment lady gaga's dog walker was shot and two of her dogs stolen. a warning you may find the video disturbing. this happened on wednesday night. two individuals drove up and attacked the dog walker opening fire as he screamed and then left with the singer's french bulldogs. police say the victim is in critical condition. lady gaga has offered a $500,000 reward for her pets with no questions asked. brittain's prince harry is opening up about his very public retreat from royal life. the duke of sussex appeared on the late night tv show. they took a bus tour of los angeles. he tells cord din the toxic attention they got was a critical factor in stepping back. >> i was never walking away. it was stepping back rather than stepping down.

>> right. >> you know, it was a really difficult environment as i think a lot of people saw. we all know what the british press can be like and it was destroying my mental health. >> really? >> i was like, this is toxic. so i did what any husband and what any father would do is like i need to get my family out of here. >> well, that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. "early start" is next.

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jesse, one more! ...is a reflection of an unstoppable community. in the mirror. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. we have reports this morning from the pentagon. iraq, south coorkorea, capitol , london and more. >> a very busy friday. we are around the world. i'm christine romans. it is friday, february 26th. happy friday, everyone. it is 5 a.m. in new york. breaking overnight, the first known military action under commander in chief joe biden against an iranian backed target in