good to see you. well, that's itll for us. we'll be back tomorrow, s 8:00 p.m., the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink. good night. "hannity" is next. the great jason chaffetz is sitting in for sean tonight. >> jason: thank, tucker. always good for you to pronounce my name properly. huge win for me. >> tucker: i can do that. >> jason: welcome to "hannity." sean.son in tonight for president trump took decisive action this week. after a group of iranian backed shiite militia stormed the u.s. 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. and breaking just moments ago and according to multiple reports, the head of iran's kudi force has been killed in an air strike at baghdad's international airport. and moments ago, we just spoke

to seanl 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 spunt. 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.ls but we have reached out to the pentagon and our military sources. they have yet to confirm this independently. this comes, as you mentioned, 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 got so out of control, u.s. forces had to come in. president trump ordered approximately 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. but apparently, we know at least seven people killed, accordinget to iraq state tv.

also, general suleimani is dead according to iraq state tv. he was in charge of the iran force. you can see his picture right there. jason, back to you. >> jason: 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 some deep, intimate knowledge here. tell us about the significance,d if the reports are true, that suleimani 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 told take down soleimani. 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 n head of cia and special forces that runs all of their militias and proxies f 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 the 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. it's proportional. it's not attacking iran directly. but it's taking down the head oc 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. >> jason: now, pete, you're joining me here on site in new york. this is a huge victory. if it's true, for the intelligence community to have actionable intelligence and a president that actually 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 hasidelines saying what happens next? to then escalate -- this isn't escalation, i think it is proportional. he's right. to kill the top commander of the quds force, the islamic corps, this is the deadly nation of the iranian state. they're not just in iraq, in syria, and in afghanistan. they're in hezbollah, this is the top anti-american, anti-israel, anti-western force in the world.. this would be 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. what it means is there reminded today, like they are every day of the trump administration,

that the americans are the top dog.he 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. nah, nah, nah. we got intel. we got weapons. we can touch you anywhere. and the colonel is right, the amount of americans killed by soleimani, this guy is going to rot in hell, good for him. right where he is. he's got american blood on his hands, this is long overdue. good on president trump. you can do this withoutha callig for a larger middle east war,ng 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. >> jason: congressman, it does beg the question, why was soleimani, someone as senior asa 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 d was going down at the embassy, why was this person actually in iraq? >> that's right.

well, he was in iraq. and he was with the head of the hezbollah, just rocketed our base and killed an american and then staged this attack on our embassy. soleimani was with him. the head of the hezbollah said he's anbo soleimani 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.nd i don't know the voracity of those reports. but they've been out there for years. we've had opportunities ton' tae them down and took decisiveor 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.mb so, again, this is absolutely

the right proportional move. we're not sending a million american troops in to invade tehran. 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.li >> jason: and pete, you've seen this enough. for the president to takede such fast, quick action, we have an apparatus that has to be involved, right? robert o'brien, the new national security advisor, he's going to 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. >> it means being there, being in iraq, continuing to have some level of presence there and having the intelligence to do that. it also means, 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. it also, as the congressman mentioned, is such a contrast to the obama administration. the guy responsible for the attack, not just riots, 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 that includes pallets of cash after we surrender in the persian gulf. contrast that and we respond by killing their top dog, again, in iraq.n 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 iraq, to control iraq. it's a bad situation there. we don't have to get tied down. but the world is a better place that this general is gone. and iran is going to hear it. tehran heard something tonight. >> jason: they did. you have a president in president trump who will make decisive issues and pull the trigger when need be.

pete,ngressman walsh and stay with us. sean hannity has also just confirmed that the united states military is now on high alert.it 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, he's fox news' pentagon producer who's on the phone with us with the latest on the top iranian commander who was reportedly killedan tonight. lucas, what are you hearing? >> jason, only certain people could carry out an attack like this. a drone strike carried out from the u.s. military, the cia. possibly the of israelis. all indications arere this is 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 senior quds force

commander responsible for all external operations. just to give you an idea of who soleimani 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, when you look at the u.s. embassy in baghdad, there's a lot of graffiti sprayed on the walls of the embassy from the iranian-backed militia and their 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 by the soldiers, and the marines came in. back to soleimani, he was designated a terrorist in 2005 for his role for supporting terrorism throughout the middle east. and in october of 2011, he

actually orchestrated an 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, and this was before russian forces entered syria to a great extent. they already had the warm water port. but to shore up the assad regime, theye sent dozens of fighter jets, thousands ofni troops, and that soleimani is part of that because the iranians and the russianshu 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.at >> jason: 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 out an international community and frankly men are espousing in washington that everything was fine under the the iran deal once president obama entered into that deal. that is absolutely not the case. soleimani, at the direction of the ayatollah, reporting directly to him, wasas killing tens of thousands of people across syria, lebanon, yemen, and iraq. the militia that 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 a 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 thismo program or this -- or this problem, it was iran killing an american just a few days ago.wa 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 lesserho individual. it was an american, period. and if you're a soldier or a civilian, it doesn't matter. again, this was absolutely the right move, it was long overdue and out there under multiple administrations. this president, whether it was moving the capital to jerusalem or whether it was other things that he promised, you know, promises made, promises kept, he is not going to put up with this kind of activity. which and he's not going to put up with an embassy being stormed, period. >> jason: 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. and 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, you're going to see that there was a response from the united states, that donald trump actually wasnd 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. >> yeah, ultimately, the -- the media can say what they want about theresponse. 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. a >> jason: that's the way it should be. >> the marines are showing up in realtime with overwhelming force.ar and oh, by the way,he 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 if they needed to. there was going to be no stand down order. but they had the discipline to realize we don't need to beo drawn into negative propaganda.

on somebody else's terms. you know what we are going to do? 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. i've got my phone right here, while you've been talking. the amount of people reaching out to me who i serve with they said this is about as big as bie 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, against american citizens across the globe, cannot be understated. now, it doesn't mean -- i thinkn this can't be understated either, this doesn't mean our response needs to lead to a ground war or a shooting war. and 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 more involved and 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 noon consequence, all of that adds up. p 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.nt >> jason: 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 g 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 they state department, and everybody we possibly can. we don't want war, but we aret 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. t and there is a reason, though,ri 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.i but i think there is a political aspect of this, as well, in that the iraqi t 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 iranian economype and the iranian 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 terrorist 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. follow us homell and will hit our allies, like israel and those in europe, as well. this is why america has to fight forward. >> jason: congressman welch,

pete hegseth, don't go away. please stay with us. 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 were 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 in 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 waltz 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 it 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 in their boarder with lebanon and syria.nt the good news is, we still have our own independent intelligence shows guys like soleimani transporting intelligence on how to attack americans. >> jason: he ain't doing that anymore.to his days are over doing that. >> 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. >> jason: oliver north, thank you. i have to keep going. if you're just joining us, according to multiple reports, and sources to hannity come with top commander of iranians codes force has been killed in 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.n

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♪ >> jason: this is a fox news alert. the top iranian commander, qassem soliamani, has reportedly been killed in iraq. joining me on the phone is sean hannity himself. sean, i know you're vacationing with your family. you have amazing contacts in the intelligence community, the white house, the statewi department, all over, what are you hearing at this hour?ig >> hey, jason. number one, happy new year to everybody. honestly, i've been on the phone for the last 2 1/2 hours.v 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, foreignur 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 -- at 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.sa the great intelligence victory here is -- we've got to remember that hezbollah, one of the things that iran is best knownat 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 ines 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 probably has created a moment in history that we may be able to look back on, iran has single handedly, the fear of iranian

hegemony, has created an alliance that might have been impossible a few short years ago, the israelis, theli americans, the jordanians, the egyptians, and the saudis all in unison against iranian potential nuclear capabilities and their military aggression. one of the president's big points, that i think nobody paid enough attention to, why would they drop $150 million in cash for the mullahs in iran without any real checks and balances, anyplace, anytime, 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 were 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 of iraq. the iraqis, as much as we give them financially to help support them, militarily, we are not protecting our people on the ground there. >> jason: no. the speed and the fact we have a president that will make a definitive decision is a huge part of this. and i really am struck that this person was in baghdad. so, if there's any question of iranian influence in trying to 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 alliancee 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. there's one other component here politically, though. remember, one of the president's successes is that for the firstr 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. >> jason: 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. this 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. >> jason: yeah, if anybody has any doubt about the resolve of president trump to protect americans, i think he's shown in taking down the threat at that embassy. remember, the number one threat out there, the number one purveyor 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 has also been working with china. remember, china -- the only reason we're even 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 t decades, maybe longer now. that has 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 thatbu the president ao was adamantt about not giving in to iranians, and within iran, very underreported,an is the fat 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 shoulda 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.en

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.g 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 m 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 embassyes 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 statete department, and a huge victory and total leadership by the

president. it is the opposite of what happened in benghazi. the exact opposite. and you know benghazi, you investigated. it. >> jason: 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 pronto 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 --g

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. >> jason: yeah. >> the same thing likely would have happened here. and i was told that by members in the intelligence community,d sources at the state department, and the defense department tonight, repeatedly, that this was a real, clear, present danger to american lives. >> jason: yeah. it really is amazing. sean, thank you so much for joining us here. i really do appreciate it. >> by the way, i just love calling in to my own show. i was supposed to be on vacation, you know?

>> jason: there's a little joy for me to cut you off. >> i will say this. i want to say one last thing. >> jason: yeah. >> look -- we are so blessed that we have the greatest fighting force on the face of the earth.at and, you know, in all seriousness here, every time they go into combat, every single time, they're riskingo their lives so we can live free here. i'm not being 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.at 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. >> jason: sean hannity. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> jason: on your own show. i really do appreciate it. all right, 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 be 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.t but it also 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 still an unsafe place still in many ways? yes, but 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 actually 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. t >> jason: 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. >> jason, 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 someone 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 despise our friend, 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 id think that's what makes the difference here. and there's a lot of folks lately, and you heard it as welt 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. >> jason: 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 thehe 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. ♪ robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

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♪ >> jason: this is a fox news alert. if you're just joining us, the top iranian commander, qassem soleimani has been killed in iraq. but democrats are already using this huge development to go after the president. senator murphy tweeted "soleimani was an enemy of the united states. the question is this, as reports suggest, did america justum assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most a powerful person in iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war." breaking now, the department of defense released a statement confirming the death of the iranian leader stating, quote, at the direction of the president, the united states military has taken decisive, defensive action to protect u.s. military abroad by killingab qassem soleimani, the head of the quds force, a u.s. designated foreign terrorist organization, end quote. joining us, karl rove and ari fleischer.

karl rove and ari, 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. he is a close ally and associate of ayatollah khamenei, who put him in charge of this project. he has the blood of many american soldiers on his hands.s. he'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 -- they could -- the special devices that 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 the 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 whoho gave them special rocket mortars that were highly accurate and could be moved very quickly called irams. and this guy hates americans, he's killed our people. he's the architect of the iranian efforts to control not only iraq, but to play a major role in syria and toan put increasing pressure on israel. and his death tonight is a major victory, not only for the united states of america, but also for the cause of stability in moderation in the middle east. >> jason: 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, with hamas, in 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 a dictatorship it is, one of the youngest, most pro western people throughout the middle east, the persian community in iran. and i'm very curious to see, if 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, stopre supporting all of the various terrorist movements it has around the

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

♪ >> this is a fox news alert. the pentagon has confirmed the united states has killed the head of iran's elite forces. trace gallagher has the latest. the breaking news, the statement from the pentagon, the direction of the president 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. needless to say, 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. -- dan bongino. sarah, what is your action? >> this was an important an decisive action by president trump. the president had tot act swifty 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.s 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 too 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.ew a lot of breaking news. a military doing an amazing job

with our intelligence community. and i've got to tell you, 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. from new york. i know a lot is going on and we're doing to bring you up to speed. trump is trouncing democrats inn key swing states. a new poll tells a different tale. scott whereas and john mclaughlin are here to explain what is really going on. a how serious are liberals about eradicating anti-semitism? we will have the hot debate. 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 the new year's eve attack on the u.s. embassypp