this is the news live from berlin iran promises harsh retaliation as u.s. air strikes kill a top iranian general the pentagon says the strike at baghdad international airport was to prevent future or reigning in attacks the death of the lead commander to some sort of mommy dramatically escalates mideast tensions. also coming up mass evacuations in australia as deadly wildfires rage on checked the navy has rescued hundreds sheltering at beaches thousands more are hitting the road ahead of

a weekend of hot conditions expected to fuel the fires. and after dozens of animals are killed in a devastating zoo fire here in germany unanswered questions fortunately some animals did survive in the zoo has now reopened. i brought in thomas great to have you with us today iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has warned that harsh retaliation is waiting for the u.s. now that after a u.s. airstrike at baghdad international airport killed iranian general the same somani the head of iran's elite force committee is also to declared 3 days of national mourning for the general's death he was considered the architect of tehran's

military operations throughout the middle east. the u.s. asked came in the middle of the night later the pentagon tweeted this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans done trump usually very active on twitter tweeted only this image. was that hunger iranian state t.v. confirmed the death of general custom salam hani. iran's top security body called an urgent meeting for friday. saturday foreign minister mohammed joshua reef tweeted the us act of international terrorism targeting and assassinating gentle soul amani is extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation. the u.s. government has accused me of having a key role in fighting in syria and iraq he reported directly to the country's

supreme leader ayatollah khomeini. also killed the deputy commander of the rainy and backed militias known as the popular mobilization forces the u.s. has accused the group of being behind the recent attack on the u.s. embassy in baghdad experts say the death of salaam mani could be a turning point in the middle east and potentially troll retaliation from iran and the forces it backs in the region against israel and u.s. interests. ok so what happens next more on that i'm joined here in the studio by a mere masowe is iraqi journalist just back from baghdad the day to you amir and us political analyst rachel rizzo good day rachel nice to have you as well on the show amir 1st to you how and where do you think iran will respond as it says it will do the killing of so i think the main area that they are going to respond will be

iraq with within the iraq the american soldiers that we talk about more than $10000.00 american soldiers based in iraq and they could be next target for iranian influence in iraq ok any specific areas in iraq where those soldiers might be have the. fear. in the close to the border iraqi syrian borders i think would be. would be the 1st and the 2nd also within kept cool we have also some troops within back that close to the airport the airport area and these national but that area says that it is a military base of the american troops they could be also trying to. prevent the tool to land to take off from the military airport so they're ok so a number of potential targets rachel as

a powerful head of the reigning revolutionary guards of al quds. has been in the crosshairs of the us before they had an opportunity to kill him before but they didn't they did now why do you think they chose a star so this according to the united states this is in response to recent escalation in iraq and attack that killed a u.s. contractor and after christmas an attack on the u.s. embassy in baghdad the question is as you mentioned before is what does the escalation look like now and how exactly is iran going to respond and is the united states ready for that response ok our dispositions in iraq specifically hard enough to take whatever iran might might be delivering or planning a mere what was the role in iraq the u.s. indicated as rachel was mentioning that that he was behind the attack on the embassy what was he doing specifically you know what we if we got that active for

this question we are not going to have any enough evidence that he is involved in this demonstration against the deceit in iraq but if we go back to that. months or years we by the reports talked about that mr suleiman who was also in charge attacking american soldiers says back to 2006 and $7.00 against u.s. troops in iraq he was the main main figure that also fight against the state in iraq that's what some iraqis still sympathizing with him but there's many reports that celeb money is the main figure facing family can interest in the whole region in the middle east ok rebecca rachel what do you think is the response or is going . b. the response united states of america has a long history of difficulties with a rather hostage taking $97911.00 marine barracks attack during the reagan

administration how is america going to respond politically and the public is well well i think the trumpet ministration i mean given what he tweeted after after the attack just an american flag will use this to drum up support amongst his base and we'll see this sort of divided amongst political lines democrats a few of our he said you know so money has american blood on his hands but this was an escalation for which we're not prepared and a lot of republicans saying that finally you know iran has been punching the u.s. in the nose in the region for for a while now and this escalation is something that they should have should have seen coming i think that the u.s. has to step back now and sort of work behind the scenes within their national security apparatus within actors in the region to be prepared for a response from the iranians that might not come immediately but that will eventually come ok amir what is going to be the response inside iraq what's the iraqi government going to do is iraq stable still at this point we've heard from

a top all sort of all mahdi army in iran how stable is iraq after disco. so that he has had the army it was responsible attacking of americans troops in 2000 back 2006 and 7 he reactivate that's on they gave as a result of this go as a result of the and also the iraqi government the chief of the lad called for the problem and together to have official the response for the for that attack and i think that is many of iraqi politicians is. trying to find a solution because iraq stick between the united states and iran and iraq could be a. very hard cost of that of that this election in iraq because the battlefield. iraq definitely. rachel is america appear prepared for an escalation in terms of the public sentiment i mean the long war in afghanistan now

a risk elation in iraq is america ready for that but the united states is war weary no one wants a war with iran no one wants an escalation with iran so i think like i said before we'll see this sort of divided amongst political lines within the united states but i think what's important for now right now is for congress to you know push back and make sure that an all out war doesn't happen because no one is ready for that and no one wants that legals rachel rizzo and amir massai thanks to both of you for coming in this morning. we're going to get your brief now on some of the other stories making the news today the top administration has announced a ban on flavored isa grants to curb the health risks tied to the teenage use of a ping problems menthol and tobacco flavors will remain on the market group say the ban does not go far enough because it only applies to the cigarette cartridges not

liquids bought separately. people in the indonesian capital jakarta have started turning to their homes after severe flooding forced tens of thousands to go backward at least 30 were kill others remain missing monsoon rains and rising rivers while thousands of homes electricity over a wide area. in argentina police in buenos aires have rescued a 3 day old baby girl being held hostage inside an ambulance. the reports say the standoff began after the father assaulted the child's mother and then hid in the vehicle they say the baby isn't good health in a hospital. it's to australia that our 2 navy ships are evacuating thousands of people who remain stranded by raging bushfires the waiting to take in the safety from the beaches around the town of melaka now on a visit to the fire ravaged communities in that area prime minister scott morrison

came in for sharp criticism for not doing enough to help the victims. this is what firefighters in australia have been dealing with for months in some cases and this is an example of the aftermath the town of moloch or what was the town a blaze tore through here on new year's eve. since then thousands have been awaiting rescue relief anything the plan is for the navy to use ships and helicopters to bring them to melbourne about a 17 hour journey by water. from destruction devastation and this is just one of so many towns in the southeastern states of new south wales and victoria that have felt the fury of the latest wave of bushfires. people have died but a final count hasn't been tallied yet some are still listed as missing one of the

dead is fireman jeff keaton who passed away battling a blaze just before christmas at his funeral on thursday his young son received an award for bravery on behalf of his dead father. forecasters say it'll be the end of the month before there's any significant rain and a possible and to the crisis the next catastrophic conditions are forecast for this coming weekend with temperatures expected to top 40 degrees celsius. well here in germany as zoo hit by a quick moving fire has now mostly reopened for visitors people have been expressing their grief at the crazy felled zoo where dozens of animals including a number of primates were killed a woman and her 2 adult daughters turned themselves in after the blaze police say they had meant lighting and releasing the chinese lanterns which of thought to have started the fire the 3 were apparently unaware that the lanterns are illegal throughout germany. let's get more now with our correspondent rebecca stoudamire at

the zoo in craig field for us rebecca looking at the video in our report there it's hard to believe at all the damage that the zoo's actually opening its doors again to the public this morning can you tell us what's happening where you are. absolutely it's pretty incredible that just so shortly after this this tragedy that hit on new year's eve the zoo is now reopening its doors to the public this morning even very early this morning people have been still coming out and putting candles at this massive memorial that has popped up in front of the behind me candles flowers stuffed animals of monkeys people have been people have been really really shaken by this and that's obviously evident in the people who have come out not only pay tribute to the memorial but also to to go into the zoo and it seems it's more of an air of what would normally be a fun day at the zoo is definitely been turned into more of a somber affair and

a memorial and back of the losses at the zoo a focused attention on the chinese lanterns that apparently caused that they are illegal but still available can you tell us more about the debate that this is been generating. absolutely this is launched a massive debate there was already a large debate ahead of new year's eve about firework usage in germany many fireworks are legal like you said the however though these paper lanterns are not legal they're not they are banned in multiple states in germany however they are extremely easy to purchase online and also relatively cheap many of the warnings that many of many of the the sites that sell these don't provide warnings that these are actually banned and that's something that the 3 suspects who who are believed to have caused the blaze said that they didn't know that they didn't know that these these paper lanterns were banned and that they didn't definitely did

know that they were banned on new year's eve as well. it was deed of years rebecca stoudamire talking to us earlier grateful well you're with the interview news live from berlin don't forget there's always the latest at our web site as well i'm brian thomas anya will be with you at the top of the hour from may have a great weekend. and from the adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. to some degree clicks on the phone while its 250th birthday we remember going on a voyage of discovery. expedition was on t.w. .