is real. trace gallagher, thank you so much. good to see you. that's it for us. we'll be back tomorrow, 8:00 p.m., sworn enemy oi lying, pomposity, smugness and group think. have a good night. >> thank, tucker. always good for you to pronounce my name. huge win for me. >> i can do that. thank you. welcome to hannity. i'm jason in tonight for shawn. president trump took decisive action this week. after a group of iranian backed shiite militia stormed the embassy in baghdad, the president's show of force deploying our brave armed men to the region to secure the facility, made it very clear, there will be no benghazi on his watch and iran will be held accountable. breaking moments ago and according to multiple reports, the head of iran's kuds force has been killed in an air strike at baghdad's international

airport. moments ago, we just spoke with sean hannity. according to his sources, this is a huge intelligence and military victory for the united states. sean's sources have confirmed to him that the president made this call immediately after the iranians were identified, in consultation with leaders from the intelligence community, the military, and the state department. one source told sean the president was adamant about protecting american interests and personnel within iraq. according to -- joining us now from washington with the latest is david spun, david? >> jason, this information rapidly developing but iraq state tv reporting that the general the head of iran's force killed at the air strike several hours ago at baghdad airport. we know that this is coming specifically from iraq state tv, the associated press, jason, also reporting seven people killed by a missile fired at the airport. now the ap, jason, is quoting an iran-backed paramilitary report

and the group is blaming the united states for this attack. it's not clear if this was a separate attack, iraq state tv has also indicated there may be two separate attacks we're working to unfold that information. but we have reached out to the pentagon and our military sources. they have yet to confirm this independently. this comes amid tensions between the united states and iran on new year's eve. iranian protesters stood outside of the u.s. embassy in baghdad for hours. things go it out of control, u.s. forces had to come in. president trump had to order 750 soldiers to the region to deal with the issue. jason also just today secretary of defense mark esper said, quote, the game as changed talking about the situation going to iran. we'll continue to work the sources and get back to you. we know at least seven people killed, according to iran's state tv. and the general is dead according to iraq state tv. he was in charge of the iran

force. you can see his picture right there. jason, pack to you. >> david, thank you. joining us for reaction is michael wald, along with fox & friends weekend co-host, pete. i want to thank both of you for being here, both of you have served our country, both over there in the region. i want to start with you. you're a first green beret to be a member of congress. but you have deep intimate knowledge here. tell us about the significance, if the reports are true, that solimani is dead and the others are dead, tell the viewers here what does that mean? >> this is a bold, decisive, and frankly long overdue move on the part of the united states to take down solimani. just so everyone knows, he's directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american soldiers, thousands if not tens of thousands of people across the middle east. he's the equivalent of iran's head of cia and special forces that runs all of their militias

and proxies across lebanon, syria, and iraq. and particularly in the height of the iraq war, we're running the iranian-backed iraqi-shiite militias that were bombing, shooting, ambushing, and killing american soldiers and that then staged this -- i don't even like to call it a protest. this was an attack on a u.s. embassy. and i think this was the right move on the part of the president as proportional. it's not attacking iran directly. but it's taking down the head of their special forces that have been killing americans for years. so, i fully support the president in this move and iran needs to hear this loud and clear -- if they continue to escalate, this president, this commander in chief, will not stand for it. and they will feel the pain, the consequences of their actions. >> now, pete, you're joining me here on set in new york. this is a huge victory. if it's true for the intelligence community to have actionable intelligence and a president that takes immediate decisive action when he gets

that intelligence. >> well, the congressman is entirely correct. this is a huge move. for our commander in chief to have the intelligence at this moment with everybody on the sidelines saying what happens next? to then escalate -- this isn't escalation, this is proportional. he's right. to kill the top commander of the kuds force, the islamic corps, this is the deadly nation of the iranian state. they're not just in iraqened syria and afghanistan. they're in hezbollah, this is the top anti-american, anti-israel, anti-western force in the world. this is like the iraq surge when i served in iraq or shortly have after, the insurgents killing general patreaus. this would be schwarzkopf or macarthur any conflict. we're not inclined to have to go to war with iran. they're reminded today like every day in the trump administration that the americans are the top dog.

we can find you where you are -- we will find you at the baghdad international airport when you think you're safe because you think you control the iraqi regime, you think that's your back yard. no, no. we got intel. we got weapons. we can touch you anywhere. and the colonel is right, the amount of americans killed by suliamani, this guy is going to rot in hell, good for him. right where he is. he's got american blood on his hands, long overdue. good on president trump. you can do this without calling for a larger middle east war, which is the critics will have or say to this president. you can be strong without being dragged into something you don't want to be a part of. >> congressman, it does beg the question, why was suliamani, someone as senior as it gets in the iranian regime, in baghdad. if there are people that have any doubt about baghdad or the iranian's fingerprint on what was going down at the embassy, why was this person actually in iraq?

>> that's right. well, he was in iraq. he was with the head of the hezbollah, just rocketed our base and killed an american and then staged this attack on our embassy. solimani was with him. the head of the hezbollah said he's an solimani soldier. another piece to realize here is that the israelis have said for years and the number of reports that they have wanted to take action against him and the obama administration declined it. i don't know the voracity of those reports. but they've been out there for years. we've had opportunities to take them down and took decisive action on the part of our commander in chief. and for the critics who are going to say this is warmongering, no, this is peace through strength. this is deterrence. this is what the iranian regime understands. they're emboldenened by perceived weakness and they would continue their attack unless we took strong action and they're deterred by strength and when we impose consequences.

so, again, this is absolutely the right proportional move. we're not sending a million american troops in to invade teheran. this is taking out a designated terrorist who has american blood on his hands as he was in iraq conducting malicious activities against our forces and allies. >> you've seen this enough. for the president to take such fast, quick action, we have an apparatus that has to be involved, right? robert o'brien, the new national security advisor will be involved, the secretary of defense, the head of the cia. there are people that would have to be in a need-to-know basis. but then for the forces to go into action and actually take out these targets in such a swift manner, that's pretty amazing. >> being there, being in iraq, continuing to have some level of presence there and having the intelligence to do that. when the president signals 750 troops and possibly 4,000 from the 82nd airborne, he in his mind had made a decision that if

a strike like something like this was possible, we would have troops forward deployed to react to it. congressman mentioned is such a contrast to the obama administration. the guy responsible for the attack, not just -- the attack outside of our embassy was sitting in the oval office with barack obama in december of 2011 and joe biden and hillary clinton, by the way, as they're trying to forge an iran deal after we surrender in the persian gulf, contrast that and we respond by killing their top dog, again, in iraq. iran's influence in iraq, jason, can't be understated how much they have taken advantage of the vacuum, fighting isis, but using it to consolidate support inside to control iraq. a bad situation there. we don't have to get tied down. but the world is a better place that this general is gone. iran is going to hear it. teheran heard something tonight. >> they did. you have a president in president trump who will make decisive issues and pull the trigger when need be.

now congressman walsh and pete, stay with us. also just confirming that the united states military is on high alert. remember, we have 60,000 people in the region there, but they're prepared for further action if iran dares to retaliate. let's go to lucas tomlinson, fox news' pentagon producer who's on the phone with us with the latest on the top iranian commander who was reportedly killed tonight. what are you hearing? >> only certain people could carry out an attack like this. a drone strike carried out from the u.s. military, the cia. the rockets launched at the baghdad airport do not just happen to destroy an suv driving down the highway from the baghdad airport carrying, you know, iran's seen quds force

commander. just to give you an idea of who seoulimani is, he's charged with killing hundreds of americans troops and the pentagon has a number, soleimani and his militias are responsible for killing over 600 american troops in the iraq war. and if you look at the u.s. embassy in baghdad, there's a lot of graffiti sprayed on the walls of the embassy from the militia supporters, and the words soleimani was our leader was spray painted on different parts of the embassy to show who was in charge, who ordered that attack on the u.s. embassy. and the fact these weren't just protesters, this was an attack. it was thwarted not just buy the soldiers and the marines came in. back to seoulimani, he was designated a terrorist in 2005 for his role for supporting terrorism throughout the middle east. in october of 2011, he

orchestrate and attempted an assassination on saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states who was dining in georgetown and the assassination attempt was thwarted, but it put soleimani's name on the radar for all to see. my colleague jennifer griffin and i reported in 2015 that general soleimani had flown to moscow to meet with vladimir putin before russian forces entered syria to a great extent. they already had it but to shore up the assad regime, they sent dozens of fighter jets, thousands of troops, and soleimani is part of that because the iranians and the russians supported the assad regime. so the fact that he appears to have been taken out tonight is a major win for the u.s. military and the families and the hundreds of the soldiers killed at soleimani's hands and his

hands of his mefrj. >> thank you for that. both have been in the military and served our nation, both understand this situation. congressman, your reaction to the report we just heard? >> well, you know, i want to address the notion that iran is trying to put on an international community and frankly men are espousing in washington that everything was fine under the the iran deal once president obama entered that deal. that was absolutely not the case. soleimani at the direction of the ayatollah, reporting directly to him was killing tens of thousands of people across syria, lebanon, yemen, and iraq. the militia he led were responsible for massive human rights abuses, not to mention the american blood on his hands. and i think for the president to pull out of the deal that was going to eventually lead to an iranian nuclear bomb while they

were conducting terrorist activities, while they were building a missile program, was absolutely the right move. if there's anyone who has escalated this program or this -- or this problem, it was iran killing an american just a few days ago. and if i could just say one quick thing there, if we could please stop referring to him as an american contractor as though he was some type of lesser individual. it was an american, period. and if you're a soldier or a -- civilian, it doesn't matter. it's long overdue and out there under multiple administrations. this president, whether it was moving the capital to jerusalem or other things that he promised, you know, promises made, promises kept, he is not going to put up with this kind of activity. and he's not going to put up with an embassy being stormed, period. >> one of the disgusting things i saw on the television where some of the people on the far left of the equation calling

this president trump's benghazi. you know what? there was a huge difference. we have a video here i want to show you. this is actually -- as we pull up the video, we're going to see that there was a response from the united states that donald trump actually was able to get people in there and have a response where the marines actually caved -- they responded to the attack. and we were able to put people on the roof and bring in marines and fortify that embassy. >> ultimately, the -- the media can say what they want about the response. there's the video right there. that's what the united states of america looks like when an embassy is under siege under president trump. >> that's the way it should be. >> the marines are showing up in realtime with overwhelming force. by the way, thankfully we didn't have to shoot our way out of the embassy. but you know they would have been authorized to do so if necessary. and in this case, they had the latitude to use rules of engagement to defend themselves ifs they needed to. there was going to be no stand down order. but they had the discipline to

realize we don't need to be drawn into negative propaganda. you're going to trash our embassy. we're going to wait a day or two, we're going to find out where soleimani is, and we're going to put him in the grave. the amount of people reaching out to me who i serve with they said this is about as big as bin laden and bagdadi. the amount of american blood on his hands, what he's done in the world to spread terrorism against our allies in israel, against our allies around the globe and american citizens across the globe cannot be understated. it doesn't mean -- i think this can't be understated either, it doesn't mean our response needs to lead to a ground war or a shooting war. that's immediately where the media is going to go. this president was elected to say i will not get involved in endless wars that have no end in sight. by the way, where he -- where this strike took place -- in the baghdad international airport where all of us hoped we wouldn't be 15 years after that

conflict started. but there we are with iran, we're involved in control more than we would have envisioned them to be. if anyone understands the need not to get entangled, it's president trump. but at the same time, he's dealing with the consequences of cowardly foreign policy of the obama administration that opened the door for the iranian regime to think they could get a nuclear bomb and kill americans or put them on prisoner boats in the persian gulf with no consequence, all of that adds up. now they're meeting trump foreign policy, which is american lives come first. we're not going to let your militias trash us. at the same time, good luck trying to draw us into a war. we'll let you kill each other before we put american troops in the middle. >> i think part of what the people are seeing and people are -- i think feel good about, is you have a president in president trump who is responding in realtime proportionately and the world leaders need to know if you mess with the united states of america, donald trump's got our back and the military is going

to work seamlessly with our intelligence community and the state department and everybody we possibly can. we don't want war, but we are going to defend ourselves and we are going to fight back and we're going to take back the appropriate leaders if need be. now, hopefully calm will prevail, but iran better get the message that you're not just going to come in and trash the united states of america and then just walk away. and there is a reason, though, congressman waltz, that these people actually retreated, right? they didn't stay in that embassy. they retreated. that's because the marines came in to help fortify, correct? >> yeah. i think that's one piece. it was a show of strength on our part, which is what they respect, again, emboldened by weakness, deterred by strength. there's a political aspect of this as well in that the iraqi government needs to decide who they're going to align with. we provide billions in load guarantees, training, equipment, and actually the iraqi people are sick and tired of their leaders being beholden to iran.

they see the miserable state of the iz rannian economy and people, but they don't want to go that route. the iraqi government needs to make a hard decision. if i can make another point, jason, there's going to be a lot of critics in washington -- pete's absolutely right, that this doesn't mean we're going to some kind of ground war. but it also doesn't mean that we can just pull everybody home, stick our head in the sand, and wish these problems away. >> totally. >> the reason we can hit this leader with the drone strike, the reason we have the intelligence is we have a small footprint of special operators forward and, for me, i want to be fighting away games, not home games. and there's a lot of voices saying, let's just pull everybody out. too hard, too long, too difficult, let them take care of it. that problem will follow us home and hit our allies like israel and those in europe as well. this is why america has to fight forward. >> please stay with us. don't go away. joining us on the phone is lieutenant colonel oliver north.

colonel north, you see this breaking news and the reports we're hearing, what's your reaction to that? >> well, applaud. the bottom line of it is, soleimani has been a purveyor of terrorism for the iranians for better than a decade. i have footage that i shot in 2017 as we're getting ready to cover the attack on mosul. and you could see soleimani's convoy pull up to the gates and get turned around, not by the iraqi government, but by the kurds. you can see that all happening that footage that i provided back to fox when i was still working there. here's the bottom line of this thing, jason. the bottom line is soleimani was the purveyor of more terrorism than any other individual than osama bin laden. and congressman walsh is right, he's killed more americans than anybody else since then. the remarkable thing is the intelligence that's been collected to find out where he

is, when he's going and where he's going. one of the things that our so-called main stream media does is berates our president for denigrating the people who are involved in our intelligence collection. the reality of it is, he knows more about it than the swamp or any of those never trumpers ever imagined. and the bottom line of it is, if we did, indeed, get soleimani, we have reduced the number of terror attacks dramatically. here's the bottom line. there are two governments in baghdad -- one is the pro american government that is counting on us to continue to train and assist their military. and help to provide information that's very important to countering terrorism. and protecting their country. the other one is the iraqi government that is beholden to the iraq -- the iranians. the iranians have long wanted a free access going all the way from the iraqi-iran border all the way to syria and then, of course, the becau valley and

attacking israel. the israelis provide an enormous amount of intelligence on what's happening with the boarder with lebanon and syria. the good news is, we still have our own independent intelligence shows guys like soleimani transporting intelligence on how to attack americans. >> he ain't doing that anymore. >> i'm actually -- i'm hopeful i talked to several people since all of this started breaking a few hours ago. i'm confident that they're right. i'm hopeful they're correct that soleimani is no more. that's a good thing for every american and every freedom-loving person in the middle east. >> oliver north, thank you. i have to keep going. if you're just joining us, according to multiple reports, the top commander of iranian's quds course has been killed by a u.s. air strike in baghdad. coming up, sean hannity will be calling in. do not change the channel. a lot more to come.

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>> this is a fox news alert. the top iranian commander, soliamani has been killed in iraq reportedly. sean, i know you're vacationing with your family. you have amazing contacts in the intelligence community, the white house, the state department all over, what are you hearing at this hour? >> number one, happy new year to everybody. obviously, i've been on the phone for the last 2 1/2 hours. let me just backtrack a little bit so everybody understands here -- what happened tonight is a

massive, huge win for our military, our -- and our military capabilities, foreign intelligence community. in coordination on every level with the state department, the defense department, chiefs of staff, the president himself. if we go back to where the beginning of this is here, the -- and i confirmed this now with multiple sources and multiple departments, the president was told beyond any doubt that american lives in that embassies were at stake. one person familiar that was in the room that heard the president said our people will be protected. this will not be benghazi. and -- but there was a real clear and present danger to all of the americans that were working inside of baghdad. so, they acted within one point

somebody -- the president asked the question among some of his military and cabinet and intelligence and state department people, well, how long is it going to take to mobilize? and the words "that's not fast enough" and everybody said, yes, sir. and they got it done in really record time. the great intelligence victory here is -- we've got to remember that hezbollah, one of the things that iran is best known for, is they fund all of these terror groups and fight proxy wars as they've been doing in yemen and elsewhere around the world. we know the iranians were responsible, qud forces in particular responsible for the killing of many americans in iraq in the latest conflict and the latest war there. and they have been sowing discord in the entire region. one of the outcrops of that that has probably created a moment in history that we may be able to look back on, iran has single

handedly, the fear of iranian hegemony was creating an alliance that might have been impossible a few short years ago, the israelis, the americans, the jordanians, the egyptians, and the saudis all in unison against iranian potent nuclear capabilities and their aggression. one big point is why would anyone ever drop $150 billion in cash and other currency on the tarmac for the mullahs and irans without any real checks and balances any time, any time inspections. but backtrack here. so, the president, according to all sources was told, american lives in that embassy are in immediate jeopardy. that there's a clear and present danger. the ability of the military, our intelligence community, the state department, and the president making the call, very quickly, you know, understood

that the iranian forces on the ground boar a direct threat to the american people. once the intelligence was confirmed, once the understanding that they were there to sow the discord and discontent, the president acted as quickly as possible, taking out this top general is probably one of the -- it's right up there in my view with taking out bagdadi in terms of the importance of stopping iranian aggression inside iraq. the iraqis, as much as we give them to support them, militarily are not protecting our people on the ground there. >> no. the speed and the fact we have a president that will make a definitive decision is a huge part of this. i really am struck that this person was in baghdad. so, if there's any question of iranian influence in sow discord in iraq, we're taking this guy out in baghdad. >> well, and that -- very

crucial. because the -- the only reason and the only way -- look, your years in congress, you never would have imagined an alliance between america, the israelis, the egyptians, jordanians, and saudis, and the only reason that alliance, the intelligence sharing, the strategizing at a level that nobody ever thought possible is happening is out of a real clear present danger that is posed by iran and the possibility, of course, of their desire to acquire nuclear weapons which if that ever happens presents a great danger to the world. one other component here politically, though. remember one of the president's successes is that for the first time in 75 years, america is now a net exporter of energy and geopolitically and strategically, iran and the straits of hormuz in particular,

which is what? 20 by 40 miles. >> right. >> we have you know 30% to 40% of the world's oil supply going through the straits, it's less strategically geopolitically important to america now than ever before. but we have these other incidents of sabre rattling, the ships taken hostage, the other threats iran has been making in the region, the proxy wars they have been fighting, the terrorist groups like hezbollah that is responsible for what was happening, this was iranian aggression against us. it was iranian strategy, iranian money, iranian proxies, that put american lives in jeopardy and the president very quickly acted and i'm also being told tonight, and i've been able to confirm tonight, that the -- right now our military, our state department, our president, everybody is on high alert. every option is, quote, on the

table, i was told, and that american interests in iraq and the region will be protected. those are the words -- those are the exact phrase i was told. >> if anybody has any doubt about the resolve of president trump of protecting americans, i think he's shown in taking down the threat at that embassy. remember, the number one threat out there, the number one pervayer of terrorism has been iran. and when the president put the sanctions in place, i think one of the back stories here is iran is really falling apart in terms of the economy. and there's a reason why iran came out after us first. it's because those sanctions were really taking an effect back home in iran. >> well, the untold story, and by the way, this is also been working with china. remember, china -- the only reason we're getting any discussions and any movement by china is that the president's tariffs have caused the chinese economy to literally -- it's the

worst they've seen in three decades, maybe longer now. that is now brought the -- the chinese to the table and is creating an atmosphere where the president is negotiating more favorable trade deals. but you know, you have to remember that the president also was adamant about not giving in to iranians and within iran, very underreported, is the fact that the -- the instability within the country that -- that daily protests have been breaking out everywhere, and reports that american founders and american framers are -- are being quoted. and that the people that are in the streets protesting are doing so at great peril because they know the mullahs in iran should stop at nothing to maintain their power. but there's no doubt, economically, that the iranians have taken a massive financial hit because of the president's

sanctions. and it's amazing, too, when you look at politically speaking, you know, you had one -- one -- you had the biden-obama foreign policy, which was appeasement. and $150 billion did not buy any goodwill from the iranian mullahs. they continue to fund terrorism, they continue killing americans in iraq. they continued to fight proxy wars all throughout the region. they continue to represent a clear and present danger to the world because they kept saying that, you know, death to america, death to israel. threatening to wipe israel off of the map, wipe america off of the map. so, the only way -- well, look -- if donald trump cured cancer in the minds of some in the media mob and the democrats, you know, they'd want to impeach him for curing cancer. so they're never going to give him the credit that would be due here. but the speed at which our military and our intelligence

community and the president and the state department was in all hands -- i was told this, it was all hands on deck. once it was identified that american lives in that embassy were in jeopardy, and they were in jeopardy, everybody was all hands on deck. i was told the president demanded the speed of light to get our military on the ground. we saw the show of forces in their arrival. apache helicopters were called in. and i'm also told that apparently every plan is in place for any possible attempt at retaliation by the iranians or their proxies or their terror-funded groups like hezbollah. so, you know, obviously an ongoing and developing story. but i will say the big headline is, this is a huge victory for american intelligence, a huge victory for our military, a huge victory for the state department, and a huge victory and total leadership by the

president. it's the opposite of what happened in benghazi. the exact opposite. and you know benghazi, you investigated it. >> yeah, and just the video we're actually showing up on the screen now, sean, you never saw that at benghazi because nobody ever ordered anybody to go to benghazi and rescue those people and to see those marines landing to provide support. i'm telling you, that buoys up our troops and -- >> i got to know the guys that were in the cia annex. my buddy paronto toronto. and all of his mates. and remember, sean -- oh, what's his name? i'm forgetting his name right now. he lost his life in the -- remember, they were told -- i've interviewed them many times. they were told to stand down. they knew our embassy was under attack. and after being told, and again, this was what they told me in the studio you're sitting in --

they were told four times to stand down. they risked their entire lives. their careers. and they went to save their fellow americans and, in fact, were able to rescue dozens of americans because of their bravery. and had they not done that more americans would have died. we lost the ambassador, ambassador stevens, we lost three other people, including some of these brave men and women that actually took the call and really disobeyed orders to protect their fellow citizens. >> yeah. >> the same thing likely would have happened here. and i was told that by members in the intelligence community, sources at the state department, and the defense department tonight repeatedly, that this was a real clear present danger to american lives. >> yeah. it really is amazing. sean, thank you so much for joining us here. i really do appreciate it. >> i love calling in to my own show. i was supposed to be on vacation, you know? >> there's a little joy for me

to cut you off. >> i will say this. i want to say one last thing. >> yeah. >> look -- we are so blessed that we have the greatest fighting force on the face of the earth. and, you know, in all seriousness here, every time they go into combat, every single time, they're risking their lives so we can live free here. i'm not big flippant. i will tell you, what they do and what they have accomplished here is an amazing feat all to defend america, american interests, and american lives on the ground abroad. and they all deserve our praise. i know some will politicize this because they would politicize curing cancer if it's donald trump involved. but this is nothing but a massive victory for all aspects of our government. by the way, and i've been so critical about the 1% in our intelligence community that abuse power -- this is the 99%

that do a hard job every day to save us and protect us. these are the brave men and women that served every day in the greatest military force on earth. and a president that is strong enough, decisive enough, to make the right call at the right time with the right advice from the best people frankly for the best fighting force on the face of the earth. >> sean hannity. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> on your own show. i really do appreciate it. joining us now with more reaction, tonight's breaking news, is congressman doug collins of georgia. congressman, you also served in the military. when you hear what sean hannity is reporting about what he's hearing about from the intelligence community and whatnot and you hear this report tonight, what's your reaction? >> jason this, is good news. as someone who still serves in the u.s. air force, this is the kind of stuff that makes you proud. we looked at it tonight, what's been reported is really the crown prince of terror,

soleimani is dead. if that's true, millions can rest easy because his sole job was to export terrorism throughout the middle east and do so in iraq. to be caught there in baghdad is appropriate. it shows this president using our military, intelligence, state department, doesn't draw red lines. he said, no, we're going to act. we're not going to threaten, we're going to do something. that's a difference what you and i saw in benghazi. tonight is a good night for the military and for the world. is it an unsafe place still in many ways? yes, there's one less terrorist out there, villain, terrorizing people for years. this is a president who stood up, put sanctions back on iran. this is what got them back to the table. the previous president walked away. this president said if you're going to participate in the world economy, you're going to have to do something to show you're in a civilized society. tonight showed them, do not mess with america. >> this is a well-oiled machine to have all of the components in the intelligence community, the

state department, the foreign affair, and the united states military is prepared to fire a gun and use a drone when they need to do it. but all of the moving parts don't work unless you have a president who's adamant that we need to take action and there's a clear and present danger, we're going to take that action. >> you can't be more right than that. you can have everything in the world right, you have all of the information, all of the parts in place. but if you have somebody who is not -- who's afraid to literally pull the trigger or give the order, then you have nothing. and we've seen that too much in the middle east. this president said i'm not going to do that. and he goes back to something we've talked about before and i've talked about, this is our ally, israel, iran doesn't even recognize its right to exist. iran is constantly causing problems in that region and terror in that region because they despite israel. our president stood with israel and the middle east to find a real peace. but you can only do that if you stand up to thugs and the way you stand up to thugs you show force. force is what is recognized. the president understands that. and that's what makes the

difference here. and there's a lot of folks lately, and you heard it as well as i have from the main stream media about how our intelligence community doesn't work with the president, the state department doesn't. they're undergoing -- but right now, what we see is a vast majority of people who know how to do their job and when the military pulls it off and all of the components are there and you have the right commander in chief, then it comes together. >> look, though, the world is a better place tonight. i thought it was a proportional response not overstepping the line, but doing what needed to be done. and a huge hats off to the military and our intelligence community. congressman collins, thank you so much. thanks for your military service and thanks for joining us tonight. coming up, more reaction to the huge breaking news out of iraq. stay with us.

>> this is a fox news alert. if you're joining us, the top iranian commander, qassem soleimani has been killed in iraq. the media is using it to go after the president trump. did america just assassinate without any congressional authorization the second most powerful person in iran knowingly setting you have a potential massive regional war, end quote. the department of defense released a statement confirming the death of the iranian leader stating, quote, at the direction of the president, the military has taken decisive, defensive action to protect u.s. military abroad by killing qassem soleimani, the head of the quds force, a u.s. designated foreign

terrorist organization, end quote. joining us, karl rove and ari fleischer. you both served in administrations, what's your reaction tonight, karl, to what you see happening? >> well, let's put this in context, soleimani is the highest-ranking official on the quds force. a close ally and associate of ayatollah khamenei who put him in charge of this project. he's got american blood on his hands hchlte's the guy who engineered it so the iraqis who were fighting against the u.s. had explosive charge, ieds, with what are called safe charges -- so they could -- the special devices they could literally blow a hole through the most heavily armored vehicles we had. the iraqis were not able to develop this themselves. it required sophistication. it was beyond their skill. and this is a guy who gave them those weapons. by 2007, i think it was, about

2/3 of the u.s. casualties were a direct result of these munitions being given to the iraqis by -- by soleimani. he's also the guy who after that, as we got more and more sophisticated in tracking down the bad guys, he's the guy who gave them special rocket mortars that were highly accurate and could be moved very quickly called irams. and this guy hates american, he's killled our people. he's the architect of the iranian efforts to control not only iraq, but to play a major role in syria and to put increasing pressure on israel. and his death tonight was a major victory, not only for the united states of america, but also for the cause of stability in moderation in the middle east. >> ari, what's your reaction to what you're seeing tonight? >> i just remember when osama bin laden was killed, and all americans came together and cheered that event where the military was able to carry that action out. and i hope the same thing happens here with the death of

soleimani. he's the world's leading terrorist. he's been active with hezbollah, hamas, yemen. and as karl pointed out, he has blood on his hands from the killing of more than 600 americans in iraq. the other really important thing to keep your eye on in terms of what comes next are the streets of iran. the iranian people have been leading a revolution, a rebellion against their government knowing what dictatorship it is, one of the youngest, most pro western europe throughout the middle east, the persian community in iran. and i'm curious to see, they're going to celebrate this as well. because you know, many of those protests have said, end the iranian aggression in other nations. stop spending our iranian money on these wars abroad, supporting terrorists. so, i think it's entirely possible this is going to be a catalyst inside iran where the people celebrate this killing of soleimani and puts pressure on the iranian government to stop the terrorism, stop supporting an all of the various terrorist

movements it has around the world. one other point about the attack tonight. >> ari, i have to -- >> kill in this attack. that's significant. >> i have to thank you both. the fact that iranian leader with us killed in baghdad says a lot about what's going on here. we appreciate it. more on tonight. >>s breaking news after this break.

>> this is a fox news alert. the pentagon has confirmed the united states has killed the head of iran's elite forces. >> the quote reads that the president of the us has taken decisive action by killing qassim suleimani, the head of the iranian revolutionary guard corps, a u.s. designated foreign terrorist organization. general suleimani was actively developing plans to attack

american diplomats in iraq and throughout the region. suleimani was responsible for deaths of hundreds and the wounding of thousands more. jason, very big victory for the u.s. military tonight. >> certainly was. trace gallagher, thanks. joining us for more on tonight's breaking news, sarah carter and can bongino. sarah, what is your action? >> this was an important an decisive action by president trump. the president had to act swiftly and targeting suleimani. i have been hearing from sources that personnel are not only high alert in iraq and throughout the region. that was a terrorist operating organization run by a war lord, qassim suleimani. so the fbi and the united states

is on alert, everybody is on alert ensuring that if there is any type of response from iran, we will target iran in case of any escalation. >> the united states is going to defend itself. we have about 40 seconds to get your reaction to what you're seeing tonight. >> yeah, jason. we didn't ask for these fight. the president has done everything to keep out of these conflicts. if you're going to keep poking the bear, you better be prepared. suleimani has done this for 20 years, doing this in iraq, bahrain, syria, yemen, lebanon and now he's no more. his reign of terror is over tonight thanks to president trump. >> sarah and dan, thanks very much. stay with fox news channel for continuing coverage of this breaking story. raymond arroyo is in for laura tonight. raymond, there's a lot of news going on tonight. a lot of breaking news.

a military doing an amazing job with our intelligence community. it does feel as if president trump did the right thing in protecting the united states with amazing precision. >> jason, it's an amazing night. i'm privileged an honored to sit in for laura ingraham. this is "the ingraham angle." happy new year. we're doing to bring you up to speed. trump is trouncing democrats in key swing states. a new poll tells a different tale. scott whereas and john mclaughlin are here to explain what is really going on. how serious are liberals about eradicating anti-semitism? candice owens is here. joe piscopo on hollywood's bizarre new year's resolutions. don't miss that. a u.s. air strike killing the leader of iran's revolutionary guard that approved