suppressed by this regime in iran. jillian: as you wake this up morning news is going to develop. "fox & friends" is going to have you covered for the next three hours. thanks for joining us. "fox & friends" starts right now. ♪ thank you, jillian. 6:00 here in new york city. we start this hour with a fox news alert the top iranian general killed in the airstrike president trump take out general soleimani at the baghdad airport. brian: get, this iran's supreme leader now promising, quote: a harsh retaliation, closed quote. soleimani is accuse of orchestrating the attack on the american embassy in baghdad. he has a huge ross sister of transgressions to go along with that. ainsley: trey yingst is live in jordan as the state department is warning all americans to get out of iraq. trey? >> brian, ainsley, steve, good morning. overnight the united states assassinating iran's top

general kassem soleimani. urging all in iraq to get out of the iraq immediately. they are saying at threat for kidnapping or even even being killed. this coming after that strike last night outlines of baghdad's international airport killed this leader of iran's revolutionary guard. additionally, seven other people were killed, including a deputy and a very large iraqi iranian backed she a militia. it's important to note here that the iranians today are vowing to respond. iran's supreme leader implementing a three day mourning period. as you saw this morning rouhani tweeting out there will be revenge for the death of soleimani. it's important to note that what we have talked about over the past few days or past year was a proxy war between the west and iran. it's important to note now that has changed a direct confrontation between iran and the united states happened last night with the assassination of this top

military commander in iran's revolutionary guard. as for any potential iranian response. we can expect a response to be calculated. they are a very large power in the middle east. they have a lot of fire power not only in iran but also in places like lebanon, syria, iraq, and even the gaza strip. we have spoken with factions inside gaza in the past year who indicated they do receive money and weapons from the iranian regime. we know that hezbollah and lebanon also getting support from the iranians. so also expect u.s. ally israel to ensure that their forces are prepared for the possibility of confrontation. we saw video tweeted out by u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo of iraqis dancing in the streets. they have spoken out against their own government over the past year regarding iranian influence in iraq. there's a lot of corruption within the government. a lot of it has to do with the iranian regime. so we did see some civilians there extremely excited that this airstrike was carried out overnight by a drone killing iran's top military commander, but, again, the region tense this morning.

waiting for potential retaliation by the iranians. everyone waiting to see what the developments are going to be. brian, ainsley, steve? steve: all right, tray yeast live in ammon jordan. the president approved the u.s. airstrike at the airport after it was learned that apparently general soleimani was planning more hits on americans in the region. trey just mentioned drone according to some news sources the missiles were fired nq 9 reaper drone. the attacks saturday started on soleimani at the airport. he was in the cargo area and being received by the deputy commander of the popular mobilization forces which is the outfit that runs all the militias in iraq that have killed all the americans. ainsley: hats off to our intelligence community and our president. huge victory for america. we can't stand ilgtedzly buy and let invade our territory like they tried to do with our embassy. this is the right thing to do. military experts is saying this morning this was

overdue. a bold move and sends a message to our countries they cannot attack our embassies without consequences. brian: or attack us over the course of maybe 20 years. meanwhile secretary of state mike pompeo may have tell graphed the need to take out soleimani when he sat down with bret baier in april of 2019. watch. >> the head of the irgc, this man was accept soul mane is by all counts a bad character and led all kinds of attacks. but, are you saying that he now is equated. >> he is a terrorist. was accep qassem has the blood n his hands. brian: he helped fuel and organize the whole insurgency that tangentially elongated out war for about five or six years.

let's bring in dan hoffman now, fox news contributor, former cia station chief who served in iraq and moscow. one thing that comes to mind when you look at al baghdadi, they were inspirational leaders. not saying they were dumb. they weren't military master minds. this guy was out front. he was wearing a uniform. he went and traveled to meet with vladimir putin and other heads of state. he was hiding in plain sight. was why now the right time to take him out? >> i think if you listen to the secretary of defense, he has been -- esper was clear about in thi this surgical strie was to prevent future attacks which he was planning against us. that's why we took the strike last night. sousoleimani has been very outspoken. met at the airport. that's a pretty brazen thing to do and a good opportunity for us at that choke point target him.

ainsley: dan, we are getting alerts in the middle of the night that iran is now threatening retall united nations. they say they will take revenge. the president is saying we are on high alert or his officials are. all options are on the table. we are mounting a full court police of surveillance of iran and americans are urged to leave that area. lindsey graham was tweeting and said if iran does retaliate, what are our military options and he suggests that we go after three oil refineries owned by iran. how should we retaliate if they fight back? >> first, the highest priority for our intelligence community right now is to collect on iran's plans and intentions to mount some sort of a retaliatory strike against us. we will be working with our partners overseas, international partners and international governments to collect information and shore up off you are defenses. president trump has a full range of options to respond against iran. i also would say with some degree of certainty that we are delivering some back channel messages to iran. not to retaliate against us.

if they do so, they risk the sort of conventional war or surgical strikes that they would like to avoid because there is no question that we can devastate iran if we so choose. make no mistake, we have a lot of choices. we can hit the irgc navy in the gulf. hit iranian targets in syria, iraq and iran. full range is the right way to look at it. steve: a full range of opinions were on television over the last 18 hours or. so watch this montage of people talking about the strike on sou soleimani. >> millions of people in iran and lebanon and israel are waking this up morning very, very scared in a region that seems to be one step closer to another war. >> this strike is fairly brazen, fairly audacious to a certain degree. >> right decision, wrong commander-in-chief. >> i am deeply worried that he did not incorporate intelligence into planning this attack and thinking about the repercussions. >> the president with his

flag tweet has certainly made this a u.s. vs. iran event. grave concerns that there is no plan, that there is no policy, that this is another one off act. steve: there you have got one of the reactions was right decision, wrong commander-in-chief. what do you make of that analysis? >> i just think there is a lot of rush to judgment, frankly. the president and his team has not briefed the congress. we have not heard really much publicly from the administration and understandably so. i wish some of our elected leaders would hold a little bit on their rhetorical fire. lead politics at the water's edge for the moment. wait to hear from the administration with more details about the strike and planning that went into it as well as our planning now postmortem for soleimani, how we are going to plan on dealing with iran going forward. ainsley: dan ilhan omar was attacking the president for killing this top terrorist who does have blood on his hands. and also saying that he is promoting a conspiracy theory, our president.

sells this is just a distraction from the impeachment trial and then joe biden said that president trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tender box. he says he owes the american people an explanation of the strategy and planned to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel. our people and our interests both here, at home and abroad and our partners throughout the region and beyond. your reaction? >> well, i think our strategy has been pretty clear. if you listen to secretary of state pompeo last month he said we would mount decisive action against iran and their proxies in the event that our people and our installations were put at risk. so the president took that decision and put it into force last night. i don't see how anyone could be super surprised about this frankly. brian: dan, a couple things, we also know, too in order to take out isis we combined to provide air cover for soleimani's militia forces a

couple years ago. and we did. they also were helping us take out the taliban after 9/11 attacks. both times after initially helping us, they quickly turned. in the big picture, as we see where we go from here, where would you -- where would you hope we are fortifying or hardening the targets to prevent an effective retaliation? >> look, first, one quick point, brian, iran allowed al qaeda to homestead in iraq, in iran, i should say, and also in syria so that al qaeda could mount attacks against the united states but also against defenseless she a civilians to drive them into the arms of iran's proxy militants in iraq. iran is the most machiavellian nefarious revolutionary power in that nation. what we need to be doing to suring up our defenses in the middle east and iran. they tried to kill the saudi ambassador here in the united states. we need to be very alert. i'm sure our state and local law enforcement is working with our intelligence

community to be as alert as possible, collecting information and intelligence on potential iranian threats. make no mistake, when we counter iran the way we did, that's the best way to deter future attacks against us. brian: is he a hero in iran? or is he looked at part of the reason that most of their funds is ferried to terrorist organizations and not to the iranian people who have now decided over the last few months to rise up and say we hate the conditions here and we're not going to take it anymore? how is he viewed. >> i certainly don't think iran is a monolith. we saw going back 10 years ago with the green revolution. there are many brave iranians protesting against their government's graph, corruption. soleimani in particular who took iran's money and used it on these ventures overseas paying for proxy militants. lebanese, hezbollah, militants in iraq and syria while their own people are starving at home. i do think that there are many in iran, certainly many in iraq who will be tracking that who are celebrating

maybe some cautiously and quietly soleimani's death. there will be some second and third order effects here in the region for sure. steve: sure. because he was a member of the iranian government, some democrats are asking for the president to explain what legal authority he used to take him out. do you have any ideas on that? >> yeah. well, i kind of leave it to the lawyers, i think if you designated him as a terrorist and he is responsible for directing attacks against us and we have intelligence that shows he is planning further attacks, there would probably be some jusks, legal justification legally for targeting him recall. steve: let's see what happens. waiting for a statement from the white house. possibility we will have mike pompeo on the program in 90 minutes. thank you very much. ainsley: jillian mele is here with more headlines for us. jillian: that's right. good morning to you. following a couple news stories. apocalyptic scene in australia as deadly wildfires continue to range. people living in new south

wales furious out of the response. chasing the prime minister out of town. >> you are really are. [shouting] >> nobody. you are f'ed. >> no relief any time soon. no rain in the forecast. for the first time the government is sending people seeking asylum in arizona back to mexico to await court hearings. the move expanding the remain in mexico program. it asylum seekers to wait for immigration court hearings in mexico. and now to extreme weather. take a look at this. a twin engine jet sliding off the runway close ago small utah airport. a plane hit a patch of ice coming in for a landing. none of the three people on board hurt. in massachusetts a huge chunk of ice smashed into a windshield, sending a family of four to the hospital.

the ice came loose from a box truck. that's a look at your headlines. send it back to you. steve: still a lot of winter weather out there. jillian, thank you. jillian: more yet to come probably. january. brian: a fox news alert. u.s. citizens now being warned to get out of iraq immediately as the pentagon prepares for more attacks on our embassy and maybe other places. ainsley: our next guest was a whistleblower in the benghazi embassy attack and his warning for you, your family, our country, coming up next. ♪ now that dream is a reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? i'm happy to give you the tour, i lohey jay. it.

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steve: a fox news alert. urging leave iraq immediately after u.s. airstrikes killed iran's terror leader qassem soleimani. preparing for more attacks on our embassy in baghdad in retaliation. see what happened on wednesday. here for reaction is benghazi whistleblower and former deputy chief of missions of the u.s. embassy in libya greg hicks. greg, good morning to you. >> good morning. thanks very much for having me. steve: okay. explain why the u.s. government -- maybe it's just obvious. we're worried about the people who are in iraq of iran might do. why should relieve iraq? >> people who are not affiliated with the department of state or other branches of the united states government are basically on their own or

reliant upon the government of iraq to protect them. and we saw in the incident around our embassy in the last couple of days that the government of iraq is, perhaps not capable or perhaps in certain situations unwilling to provide the kind of security that americans should receive. americans who are visiting a foreign country should receive. so, american civilians should heed the state department's warning very thoroughly and they should leave as quickly as possible. steve: obviously what happened at the airport in baghdad yesterday is going to ratchet up the tension between the united states and interests over there. and, you know, obviously iran and, you know, as you said, you can't really count on iraq to protect the americans there. >> right. certainly the death of qassem sou soleimani the head of

the hiewdz force. increase risk. iranian terrorist network is across the world and heavily concentrated in iraq itself. and the probable response to that attack will be further terrorist-like attacks. steve: sure. we were thinking about you when we saw the images of the attack on the embassy a couple of days ago there in baghdad. because you everywher were one e people that said our interests in libya needed to be protected more. some in the media have regarded what happened in baghdad say there are a lot of parallels what happened in baghdad and what happened in benghazi. do you buy into that? >> well, i want to digress quickly here to just say that one, we were heart broken at the death of the contractor in the rocket

attacks previously and we at gemini industries, a company i work for, express our condolences to that person's family. and we are also very much concerned for the security of all americans that are in the middle east protecting us. as to the comparisons between baghdad and benghazi, i was horrified that people would make that comparison. and i would ask that anyone who even thinks along these lines should stop immediately. such comparisons only bring pain to those, the families of those who lost their lives and to those who survived that terrifying incident. steve: right. >> let me explain, objectively, there is no comparison between the two events. the event in baghdad was a demonstration, an unarmed, yet violent demonstration that was clearly planned as an information operation by

the iranians and the -- their iraqi allies. steve: greg, you say the parallels just are atrocious and you think that's really bad. we thank you for joining us with your expertise, greg hicks. >> thank you. steve: we'll be right back. tooth loss. help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. leave bleeding gums behind. parodontax. americans come to lendingtree.com to compare and save on loans, credit cards and more! but with the new lending tree app you can see your full financial health, monitor your credit score, see your cash flow and find out how you can cut your monthly bills. download it now to see how much you can save.

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steve: all right. 6:25 now in new york city on this friday. quick headlines for you. first up, former fbi deputy director andy mccabe admitting he lied to the bureau, the fbi about his leaks to the press. newly released documents show mccabe initially denied knowing how the "wall street journal" learned of the fbi's probe into hillary clinton's emails back in 2016 but admitted to speaking to a reporter months later. mccabe was fired in 2017 for lacking candor. and hillary clinton has

taken a new job. the failed 2016 presidential candidate has been named the new chancellor of queens university in the country of ireland. she is the first woman to ever take the post which is mainly ceremonial. and that is some of the news. ainsley: and here's some other news. thank you, steve. a fox news alert. iran promising retaliation after u.s. airstrikes kill revolutionary guard general qassem soleimani. brian: our next guest tracked his movements as the leader targeting u.s. diplomats. here to explain what his death means for the region drone expert around strategic advisor for white fox defense bret bell voyeur very mucbrettvelicovich. being greeted in the cargo section of the baghdad airport. how hard was it to find this guy or was it easier than you would imagine? >> i think the u.s. government probably has been

tracking soleimani's movements for quite some time. he is not like some isis fighter that is constantly in hiding. most likely the government has known where he has been for years. calculated decision on the behalf of the president to take that strike. i personally have firsthand knowledge of instances where we had the opportunity to capture and kill soleimani before. the administration at the time said not to do it. there was always this fear of this tit-for-tat where if we were to take one of their diplomats or officers they would take out one of ours. we saw though, however, that that didn't work because the situation has only gotten worse. more american lives have been lost as a direct result of soleimani and the irgc thugs. and the president made the right call here and he did what was necessary to protect americans. ainsley: what type of a victory is this for america? can you compare someone here in america if they did this to us? >> i mean, soleimani is a very significant player within the iranian regime for, in my opinion

equivalent to striking of someone like secretary pompeo. this is a huge blow to the iranian network. the world is much safer though because soleimani is dead. he had it coming. he was directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american soldiers in iraq and wounding thousands more. i personally was a part of a attack from iranian missiles ripping through a building in baghdad that i operated out of. that was an attack directed by soleimani and his thugs. if we continue to let him operate with impunity, he would be responsible for hundreds or more lives lost. so the president did what was necessary to protect american lives. and he said the iranians would pay a very big price for their blatant attack on our u.s. embassy. and he clearly meant it in this case. for those of us who have lived through the brutality of the regime the situation over there has only gotten worse and worse unfortunately. the u.s. government can't just sit back and let that go unchecked or the iranians would feel even more emboldened and more lives

would be lost. brian: would you be worried if you were in iraq right now? >> look, i think there is definitely a cause for concern for americans operating in the region. again, this is a very calculated decision made. there is no doubt in my mind that the administration weighed all of the risks involved and looked at the fact that the iranians would be looking to strike. the iranians more than likely feel very compelled to strike. it makes them look weak if they don't. we know that they will probably look at this as an act of war. frankly, they have already declared war on us. when they struck the u.s. embassy that is u.s. soil, okay. so everyone is really concerned about what the iranians are going to do and how they are going to retaliate. but the iranians frankly should be worried about what the u.s. is going to do. if we are willing to go after their number one general and number one fighter over there. what will we do if they continue to keep harming americans and i think the president just flipped the switch and he gave us the youpper hand in this situation. i'm thankful that this was finally done. i know there is a lot of

u.s. soldiers, a lot of families out there who realize the importance of this general being taken off the battlefield because he has been responsible for many, many deaths and his reign of terror ended yesterday. brian: bretvel very much thank you very much. >> thank you. brian: planning more attacks on americans. general anthony tata says it's about time that we have a president who puts americans first. he joins us next. any comments d? yeah. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. con liberty mutual solo pagas lo que necesitas. only pay for what you need... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ fthe prilosec otc two-weekymore. challenge is helping people love what they love again. just one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. because life starts when heartburn stops.

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doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. brian: we are back with a fox news alert. top iranian general killed in a u.s. airstrike. this was authorized directly by president trump. now the state department urging all americans leave iraq where qassem soleimani was taken out actually right outside baghdad airport iran's supreme leader now promising quote a harsh

retaliation. ainsley: soleimani is accused of orchestrating the seize of the american embassy in baghdad this week. blamed for the death of hundreds of troops and thousands in the middle east. leader of the elite cudz force. his successor has already been named. steve: satisfies mike pompeosece mike pompeo tweeting out the video of iranians celebrating in the street. let's bring in anthony tata, former retired deputy commanding general of forces in afghanistan. general, good morning to you. >> good morning, steve. steve: this is a bad guy, right? >> terrible guy. and, you know, what we have got is a president that is being bold and resolute in supporting u.s. interests in the region. we have had a president before that followed a strategy of appeasement. and now with president trump what we have got is someone who is confronting that strategy and implementing

his own strategy of supporting u.s. vital interest in the region. and what that does is create this conflict between the previous strategy and the one that we have got now and so over -- since last spring, april time frame. we haveline slowly increasing the troop presence for intelligence and logistics and some combat armed soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in this region because we had the intelligence that he ran, had to drive to ajimmy in the reason. what was soleimani doing in baghdad? my sources are telling me and very well played sources we know he was there to further plan and execute attacks against americans. and so all this outcry about us attacking an individual no he is a designated terrorist leading a designated terrorist organization. and he is fair game after attacking u.s. property and people in the u.s. embassy in baghdad.

so, this is a president that is very strong and resolute and executing a very clear strategy in representing u.s. interest in the region. ainsley: what did president trump do, compare that to what president obama did. president obama gave $150 billion to iran and this message is sending a clear message that they can't get away with this. >> that's right, ainsley. what have you seen is your previous guest talked very eloquently how we had eyes on soleimani. this is a man, i remind your viewing audience, that supplied the explosive foreign penetrators, the worst kind of explosive device that killed hundreds of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in iraq he has led hezbollah and led other militant organizations around the region to attack

u.s. and israeli and saudi arabiaian vital interests. he is a terrible man. on the other hand obama was not attacking him. was concerned about, you know, his iran deal and he gave away the farm and appeased the iranian leadership to be able to have some kind of, you know, fake legacy and thank god that president trump had the clear vision to overturn that nuclear deal and come in and protect americans and put americans first. brian: i want to tell you what senator chris murphy just tweeted last night. soleimani was an enemy of the u.s. this is not a question. the question is as the report suggested, america just assassinated without congressional authorization the second most powerful person in iran settle off a regional massive war. your response. >> the assassination, language i saw that trending

last night. that's insanity. he is a terrorist. he is the leader of a designated terrorist organization. is he a designated terrorist. he oversaw the attack on u.s. personnel and property. he is fair game. that's very irresponsible of murphy and others like him that are immediately jumping on the side of iran. brian: it's amazing. >> it's amazing how when president trump make as bold decisive move like this and they will support, you know, the democrats will support hamas or hezbollah or iran as opposed to who they represent in their districts. it's just utter insanity, brian. steve: all right. the big worry is what will the retaliation be that the ayatollah has threatened? stay tuned for that general, thank you very much for joining us live. >> thank you; steve: 22 minutes before the top of the hour. ainsley: jill yasian has more headlines for us.

jillian: a suspected drunk driving suspected of killing a pedestrian on new year's eve now walking free thanks to new york's bail reform laws. he was arrested before he was arraigned because drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter charges don't require bail under the new law. prosecutors say they still plan to pursue charges. it comes as new york city mayor bill de blasio admits the law needs to be amended after a string of anti-semitic attacks. the search has been called off for a car seen speeding off a cliff. a dash camera capturing the frightening plunge into the ocean in san francisco earlier this week. police suspended their search for the car and driver with up to 14-foot as well as expected this weekend. unclear why the driver veered off the cliff. the so-called affluenza teen is arrested again for violating his probation for a second time. ethan couch was 16 when he killed four people in a drunk driving crash in 2013. he made national headlines after his attorney claimed he didn't know right from wrong because of his wealthy upbringing a judge ordered

him to serve 10 years probation couch was back in handcuffs on thursday for failing a drug test. he has been out on probation after serving nearly two years in prison for a previous probation violation. and a quick-thinking 12-year-old jumps into action to save her baby brother from being kidnapped. watch closely as security cameras watched the caught the woman taking 2-year-old out of the chair. grabbed him and told the stranger, quote, don't trump my brother, even though the woman claimed it was her child workers at the a.o.c. restaurant ordered her to leave. the child's actual mother was at work during the attempted abduction. horrifying scene there. steve: wee have the video. thank you very much, jillian. a rainy start to this friday. janice dean is outside fox square. she has the umbrella up and the folks are out. janice: i have my mostly sunny umbrella right there. rick reichmuth made it there mostly sunny. high, you guys. how are you?

you came today, what are your names? >> lisa, mike. >> kimberly. >> matt. >> chase. >> hannah. >> pete. >> charlotte. >> dallas, texas. janice: we got everybody in. they came to see us on "fox & friends." take a look at the maps. warm day across the northeast. but the rain is kind of kampening our spirits, unfortunately not here on fox square though. let's take a look at the radar. i will show you the potential for heavy rain across portions of southeast, east coast all the way up towards the northeast. mainly a rain event. cold enough for snow across portions of new england. new system moves in this weekend we will have to watch it. bring your mostly sunny umbrella. thank you all for coming, you guys. happy new year. alabama loves "fox & friends." army vet loves "fox & friends." thank you for your service. and say hi to steve, ainsley and brian, my friends. happy friday. look at all these beautiful faces. ainsley: tell them thanks for being here. we love them too. thank you, janice. as cities across the country

move to crack down on guns. many sheriffs say they are willing to go to jail to protect your assessment rights. you are going it meet one of them next. ♪ ♪ get loud ♪

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to defeat your worst cold and flu symptoms fast. device: (sneezes) theraflu. the power is in your hands. $12.99 all you can eat ♪ now with boneless wings. only at applebee's. jillian: good morning, welcome back. quick headlines now. two amazon employees reportedly had their jobs threatened for questioning the company's environmental policies. two were told of their potential termination providing services to oil and gas companies. and police want you protecting yourself against fraud in the new year. here is how. recommending you stop abriefiating the year on all legal documents. for example, instead of writing out 1/3/20 as in

january 3rd, 2020. you should write out the month and day full year 2020. they say scammer could say easily manipulates documents like checks. they warn after the 20, someone could put a 19 on it and say you were delinquent and owe interest. something i wouldn't have thought, about ainsley. ainsley: thank you, jillian. as cities across the country move to crack down on guns sheriffs are rises up to form assessment sanctuaries and at least 190 counties to defend americans' rights. now in kentucky sheriffs are apparently willing to go to jail to protect those sanctuaries. here to react is the sheriff of wells county, colorado, steve reames also declared his county a second amendment sanctuary. good morning to you, sheriff. >> good morning, thanks for having me on. ainsley: good morning. we have seen school shootings. many people coming out and saying we need to change the laws there need to be red flag laws because some of these shooters have had mental illness. why do you say that this is dangerous? >> well, result mastly,

these gun control measures, red flag measures have proven to be wholly ineffective at strong mass shootings. it's a feel good stance. and quite frankly, most of the laws are written in some form of violation of the constitution, not just the seconds amendment but the fourth, the fifth and the 14th amendment. ainsley: so where is the conflict with the amendment, with the constitution? >> well, typically, these red flag laws are filed against someone without their knowledge. so, an order is issued against them ex parte hearing or hearing that the person whose gun rights are being taken away from has no idea is occurring. they don't get an access to true due process. and law enforcement is out taking their guns before they realize that they have even been a party to a red flag order. ainsley: so, if you don't follow a court order, then you could go to jail if you don't follow these red flag laws? >> that is correct. ainsley: why would you want to do that? >> well, you know, there is a point where law enforcement is put into a catch-22. we can either enforce an

unconstitutional law and violate someone's constitutional rights or stand up for those constitutional rights and take the hit ourselves as law enforcement officials. i think it's my job to take that hit as a law enforcement official if necessary. i said i would rather me be the one fighting the issue in court than one of my constituents because i went out and enacted an unconstitutional law. ainsley: sheriff, if you are not in favor the red flag laws what do you think needs to be done. >> i think as a nation we are missing out big time on what we need to do to address mental health concerns in the united states. we keep looking for this easy fix of saying let's go out and take people's guns or let's focus on the gun issue when it's really a mental health concern that we need to address as a nation. and colorado as a state. that seems to be the topic that gets overlooked and it's too costly for anyone to actually want to tackle. ainsley: okay, sheriff, thank you for being with us and thanks for your service. >> thank you. ainsley: you are welcome. democrats slamming the

president ordering the airstrike that killed iran's top general. we now know that he was plotting to kill americans. lieutenant colonel allen west on that next. ♪ ♪ e forest ♪ ♪ laughin' back and forth at what the other'ne has to say ♪ there's a booking for every resolution. book yours at booking.com before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn, marie could only imagine enjoying freshly squeezed orange juice. now no fruit is forbidden. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn?

♪ brian: president trump ordering airstrike killing iran's military general. 2020 democrats now sending off, guess, this accusing the president of escalating tensions really not knowing what he is doing. here to react army veteran lieutenant colonel allen west now running for the g.o.p. chair in texas. colonel, your reaction to the killing of soleimani, what does this mean? >> well, it means that iran with the quds force the designated leader the leader of that organization is dead. within our rights to be able to go after soleimani. you know, explosive force

penetrators that you talked about earlier, brian, they were responsible for 18 to 20% of the deaths and the wounding of our american soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines there. and those things were plotted and planned for by someone such as soleimani. and we can go all the way back to the embassy attack in 1979 up to today. iran has always been attacking united states and united states facilities. and i think the most important thing that the iranians need to understand this is not jimmy carter in the white house. this is not barack obama in the white house. this is someone that is going to defend america and defend american interests and our mental and women that are deployed overseas. brian: bernie sanders doesn't think that he says trump's dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the middle east. elizabeth warren says this reckless move escalates the situation with iran. biden says president trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a continue gear box.

what's your reaction? >> i guess they think it's okay to send billions of dollars of cash to the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world by a means to apiece or compromise ache qui says so the iranians. this is going to draw a very clear difference a delineation between president trump what is he doing and these people that are running to be president of the united states of america on the issue of national security. so, i think that they are not starting off 2020 on a good political footing. if they are going to start siding with iran and not taking action against a terrorist organization, which is what the quds force is. brian: colonel, he was getting bolder and bolder. he didn't think we had the courage to take a shot at him. he is landing in an airport at another country. we almost saw him at the ticket booth getting a ticket. he never thought we would take this shot. why do you think we took it now? >> well, because we cannot have someone acting with impunity such as this. i mean, is he responsible for the most recent attacks.

he is there in iraq orchestrating the attacks of these shia military forces and to include attacking our embassy. this is not going to be another benghazi and the democrats have to be very concerned about, you know, coming up and saying that the recent attack on the embassy was going to be trump's benghazi. president obama did not send forces. president obama did not react as we have seen president trump to do. and for them to take the side of against president trump in this case, it just goes to show that they would take us back to a very weak foreign policy and national security stance. brian: colonel a couple other things are pretty clear and that is this does not only effect what is happening in iran. it happens in iraq. they are going to have a parliamentary vote. general soleimani helped broker the deal that put the outgoing prime minister in power and put a lot of those parliamentaries in place. if they vote to expel the american forces, we have 5400 there, what do we do?

>> well, i don't think that we respect that vote. because, you are talking about people that are backed by the iranian regime. you know, under the previous administration, we saw the iranian regional hegemonic dominance extend into yemen across iraq into syria and of course into -- with hezbollah and lebanon. so, now we see a president who is willing to push back against this extension of iran's domination in the middle east. and i think the iraqi people don't want to see themselves become a puppet to the iranian regime as well. brian: colonel, i think a lot of people are wondering president took shot at iran after they took out our drone, after they went after the saudi oil fields. they just had to wait. they got their shot now. colonel west, thanks so much. >> thank you. happy new year, brian. brian: back at you. it was great to he so you. meanwhile, straight ahead. breaking news, senator lindsey graham here to help us with and he spent the weekend with the president. did he get a heads up on what was about to happen?

congress dan crenshaw will be here live. he knows what it is like to fight in the congress and battlefield and representative tulsi gabbard a noninterventionist. how does she feel about this shot against this general? we will discuss it all.

brian: we begin with a fox news alert. a top iranian general, the premier general, the second most powerful person in iraq is now dead thanks to a u.s. drone strike. president trump authorizing the mission to take out qassem soleimani near a baghdad airport last night. ainsley: soleimani is accused orchestrating the attack on the american embassy in baghdad a few days ago. iran's supreme leader now promising a harsh retaliation. steve: the big question is what does that mean? trey yingst is live in the region he is in jordan as the state department warnsz all americans to get out of iraq. trey? >> brian, ainsley, steve, good morning. the u.s. state department is telling all americans that are currently inside iraq to get out of the country

immediately. they are saying take a plane, take a car, it doesn't matter, get out of the country as things are deteriorating quickly after the united states last night ordered a drone strike to assassinate the leader of iran's revolutionary guard qassem soleimani. just a few moment ago u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo tweeted that the united states remains mitted to deescalation. let's be very clear about something the assassination of the most powerful military leader in iran is not a descalating act. this is something that the iranians are saying they are going to get revenge for. hasan rouhani specifically saying he calls it the great nation of iran is going to get revenge for what he is calling a heinous crime. iran's supreme leader eye tol"tollla homany. two separate drone strikes outside of baghdad's international airport. a total of 8 people were killed including a deputy commander and iranian militia that is backed -- an

iraqi militia that is backed by iran. and so everyone today the big question they are wondering about is what sort of responds will there be from iran. we can tell it you will likely be a calculated response. in the past the iranians have often taken time to respond whether it was shooting down a u.s. drone or targeting that saudi airfield, the response will likely come, it is a question of when and where. additionally we are learning this morning that the iranians have appointed a replacement for soleimani that is esmail begany. responsible for a lot of iran's smuggling operations. benjamin netanyahu releasing a statement on his way back to israel this morning saying israel stands with the united states. we are getting reports of israeli troops preparing for potential escalation in the north as iranian backed hezbollah says a retaliation would be warranted, brian, ainsley, steve? >> it's an act of state terrorism. steve: all right. trey yingst live in jordan where it is 3:00 in the

afternoon. thank you very much. he mentioned secretary of state mike pompeo. he will be joining us in just a couple of minutes. we have a crew there at foggy bottom, in the meantime let's bring in pete hegseth, army vet, "fox & friends weekend" co-host. pete, very clear, this guy had the blood of hundreds of americans on his hands. what took so long? pete: has for quite some time. what took so long is the trump administration on the heels of the obama administration. they had to change the whole playbook after the way we treated the iranian regime. a point that was missed a little bit at the time that now has a lot of importance as we look back april of 2019 when we designated the quds force a terrorist organization. the secretary of state said that the president was behind it. that meant that if iran, if the quds force if soleimani took the opportunity-to-a tack american troops or american personnel around the world we had the opportunity to strike back. what better example than our embassy in iraq, remember, that is sovereign american soil. our embassies are american

soil. so if you are the president of the united states, and you see iran intentionally meddling there. intentionally trying to be provocative toward your embassy hoping can you get benghazi 2.0 which is what the critics want to say about this there is a measured response. the president says we are not going to allow that we know what you are trying to do. you are sending soleimani to baghdad to attempt to foment more violence to hurt or kill more americans. this is the kind of provocation that american first foreign policy requires a strong response on. listen, i have gotten responses from friends around the globe who think this is precisely the kind of bold action needed to send a clear signal to iran that your meddling around the world against america's interests and our allies will never be accepted again. ainsley: they have assassinated women in public squares. they have assassinated students. this man the head of them is a mass murder. what happens to that sect

now. >> these are islamists. this is hot quds force is this is hot iranian regime is the most radical arm that exports that terror around the globe. able very clear about that. as far as soleimani, think about the combination of like the defense secretary, the head of the cia with the profile of a james bond type. there's an idea inside iran that he is a myth call figure. they have written pop songs about them. they claim to the future in the iranian regime in the belief that he can export it around the globe. his death is extremely significant. i think it could have more resonance than people think, as the maximum pressure. economically being crumbled and threatened by protests internally, domestically. they have -- 't. puts at risk the entirety of their iranian enterprise. they have gone through hezbollah and lebanon through hamas and others surrounding israel in syria. what they have done in afghanistan and iraq and elsewhere. iran has tried to expand its

influence. if you kill their leader who is in charge of that, while your life is not good at home, their responds may not be as robust as we think because their strength may be not as significant as they project. brian: awgd and zarqawi and bin laden not only fighters but inspirational leaders who hid in caves and mud huts. this guy is different. he was a military strategist. is he an organizer. organized the insurgency is in syria and iraq when we were primary, i guess, military force there as would built them up. so, when you take him out, you are not only taking out a leader, you are taking out a strategist to make a football analogy, he is a quarterback. and if you take out that quarterback, you can't just put another one in there and say they can be replaced because he wasn't giving rah-rah speeches. he was actually plotting, planning and organizing. pete: exactly. you read profiles of soleimani he was the one calling the shots behind the scenes on almost everything.

a combination of a brady and a belichick to use your football analogy. he is the guy on the ground thinking through the strategy how do we defend and prop up the bashar al-assad regime. many credit him with allowing bashar to stay in power. brian: goes to putin and says how can you help news syria. we told him you are not allowed to leave your country in 2015 he left anyway. pete: negotiators were leaving the room to make phone calls to soleimani because they couldn't make calls without him. that's how significant this guy is. brian: during the nuclear deal. pete: as well as talks aroundth surge. remember, in iraq, we have had to deal with iranian influence for quite some time. another reality of the obama administration. rather than fight isis, we partnered with soleimani in the front lines in the province where i served and, yeah, soleimani would be happy to fight isis because he hates th sunnies. it didn't benefit our interest. on the trump administration we fight him, too.

ainsley: you fought for this country. this guy took out americans. hundreds if not thousands of americans. and you have democrats saying this is the right decision, the wrong commander-in-chief. ilhan omar saying that he did this as a distraction from the impeachment trial. you have wendy sherman who was the lead negotiator of the iran nuclear deal under obama and the state department. she was critical of him and said he was a ruthless killer. she says this could have unbelievable horrific consequences. pete: shame on them. it's disgusting the amount of hatred they have for this president. their inability to step back for one moment and realize the world is a better place when a terrorist like soleimani is dead. and make no mistake. he is a terrorist who has killed over 600, at least, american blood on their hands. men and women. i served with on the battlefield. we know he had intentions of going to baghdad yet again to attempt to kill more americans. i don't care what laws you want. if you want -- point of order, was he technically this? was this an assassination?

he is a terrorist that killed americans. we knew where he was and the president took a bold step to get rid of him and people around the globe are thankful for that. steve: apparently he had just felony i flown in from bagd from syria. he had heard that there has been a wave of anti-iran protest in the country of iraq. he went in there to kind of stir. pete: there have been. steve: exactly. that's why he was there and our drone took him out as his two car convoy was leaving the airport. ainsley was talking about the hundreds of americans who lost their lives because of him. but at the same time, his organization provided those ieds, those super deadly devices that took the limbs of thousands of americans. pete: we knew about it on the ground. foreign penetrators. technology was so sophisticated it couldn't be coming from anyone other than a state-backed actor. soleimani was that actor. we didn't know his name. dealing with quid in iraq.

you hear iran might be meddling and involved. that's the high level intelligence stuff. ainsley: did they use american dollars to pay for those? >> that was before the iran deal. but eventually, that was enriching the very people we knew were responsible for american deaths. that's why the iran deal was so outrageous to begin with we knew who absolutely was. know who the iranians are and intentions with a nuclear bomb. they have been at war with us around the globe even since before 9/11. brian: this is a farcical statement that wendy sherman made. on the right path with the nuclear deal now off path and don't know what's next. the nuclear deal would have been in place. allowing terror organization to exist still. only. they would have had a lot more cash without american sanctions to strangle their economy. because the economic benefits of no longer being a pariah in the world economy bolstered allowing them to be more equipped and

better financed. pete: instead the opposite has happened. they have maximum pressure. they are lashing out and their leader is dead all because president trump has had the courage to do what other political leaders have been unwilling to do for years. you take the head off the snake. he did it with baghdadi. you do it with soleimani. it changes the entire game. doesn't fix the whole situation. but, think about kim jong un. is he looking at this going man, those americans, they will stick by their word. ainsley: what did this mean for you on a personal note. you said this guy is rotting in hell and that made a lot of news. you fought for our country. have you lost friends on the battlefield. many might be in the hands of their blood might be on his hands. what does it mean to you personally. >> victory of a long war that will not stop. all you hope is that you have the leaders a that have vigilance and clarity to make big moves at big moments and that's what president trump has done. brian: and be ready for the next move. thanks so much. >> thank you, guys. brian: mike pompeo very kind enough to be joining us live at this very important

moment. mr. secretary, thanks so much for joining us. can you bring us back to that decision when you realized you would have a shot at general soleimani and you wanted to take that shot? >> well, brian, good morning. steve: good morning. >> president trump made the decision, a serious decision which was necessary. there was an imminent tact orchestrated a primary motivator for the attack was qassem soleimani attempt to disrupt that plot. you ultimately talked this morning about the history of who qassem soleimani is. hundreds of american lives blood on his hands. what was sitting before us was his travels throughout the region. his efforts to make a significant strike against americans that would have been many muslims killed as well. iraqis, people in other countries as well. it was a strike that was aimed at both disrupting that plot, deterring further aggression. we hope setting the conditions for deescalation as well. steve: all right. the pentagon did release a statement that one. reasons that he was taken out now was because he was

planning more attacks on americans. what can you tell us about that generally? >> steve, i can't say much more. but you need not look any further back than just the last few months. dozens and dozens of tachs against american and allied interests throughout the region by iran and its proxies. culminating with what happened with an american killed on 27th. we had iraqi facilities. there have been a series of actions. we have watched that action take place. american uav shot down. the strength president trump had shown was important. it's now the time we needed to take action to restore deterrence. the men and women on the ground there today we take seriously the need for their security. we are working on it. we have been planning for this and we are prepared. ainsley: now, if iran does retaliate, i have heard some experts say they don't always retaliate immediately. it could take a long time. what are the president's military options? lindsey graham has suggested maybe taking out their three

oil refineries, what do you say? >> ainsley, i certainly don't want to get out in front of you who the president will decide to respond other than to say this. i think the iranian leadership understands that president trump will take action. we have made this clear for months when i was a cia director. we made very clear that these responses would be swift and divisive. we have now demonstrated that i hope the leadership will see that and see their resolve. their decision will be to deescalate and take actions consistent with what normal nations do. in the event that they don't and go the other direction, i know that president trump and entire united states government is prepared to respond appropriately. brian: mr. secretary, i was struck by some of the people calling out you and other members of the administration, one of which is ambassador chris hill who for 16 months was in iraq. i really can't point out much that went well during his tenure. he felt secure enough to make this comment a couple days ago. >> the u.s. government has a kind of cartoon image of what is happening in that

part of the world. and one worries whether the administration has the sort of horsepower and brain power to deal with them. brian: do you have the brain power or horsepower to deal with this? >> i don't pay much attention to what folks like that say. i know precisely what president trump has given our direction. i know the mission set. the whole team does. we are focused on making sure for the day that we are secure. that we are doing everything we can to prepare to have the resources in the region to responds. positioned. and we ar confident. we watched these protests over the last months. these protests weren't against america. they were against a terrible leadership that had come out of iraq over the past decades. we watched last night, you saw the video of iraqis dansing in the streets. they are happy, too. the absence of qassem soleimani is a boon to this region. we resisted risks last night. it was very clear we did so. we will continue to take

actions to reduce risk and protected america. president trump has been very clear about that and nothing is different today than it was yesterday with respect to that. steve: clearly, this is part of the president's maximum pressure campaign which he has launched on a number of entities. in the past, i know you have been critical of certain members of president obama's administration who you felt were undermining the president wantpresident's maxime campaign by saying to iran behind the scenes hey, just hang on, once he loses in 2020 we will be able to go back to the way things used to be. >> yeah. that kind of activity is never appropriate, especially bad when it puts american lives at risk. so i would hope that those former administration officials will just simply get off the stage and allow president trump and our team to do the right thing. look, we took a very different approach. we didn't send pallets of cash to the iranians. we didn't pay for hostages. we didn't create a deal which would have given them a clear pathway to a nuclear

weapon. we have taken a very different approach. we believe it's the one that will ultimately lead to success and stability in the middle east. ainsley: this is the non-benghazi. what do you know about the other individuals that were killed. i have heard seven. i have heard eight people. one of the people in addition to soleimani was the abu aldi -- what do you know about him? >> he was the leader of the iraqi she a. he was the primary contact for qassem soleimani when it came to she a militia forces acting in iraq. he was a bad guy. i can only confirm that general soleimani is dead but if be a do you mani has passed away as well. less risk in the middle east. more freedom for iraqis. more opportunity for iraqi people to stand up and get an independent, free, sovereign iraq built. it's what america has been there for. we will continue to work it. we will continue to fight isis in the region. we are committed to making sure that americans are safe

from terror wherever we find it. brian: so i understand the "new york times" reporting that donald trump did something that george w. bush and barack obama did not want to do because they feared there would be reprisals. they could have taken out soleimani in the past but they didn't want to take the risk. you know there's a risk to every move like this. why was this risk worth it now? because i imagine over the last two and a half, three years, have you also had a shot at him in the past. uscia director or as might have heard from your own former secretary of state. whform -- secretary of defense. why now? >> now it's important because of the escalation taken place as wel attacks soleimani was planning. brian, i think you know, this the risk of doing nothing is enormous. enormous in the short-term the imminent attacks soleimani was planning. highly risky. doing nothing in this region

shows weakness. emboldened iran. what happened for eight years when the iranians felt free to conduct hundreds of attacks. we know that this didn't work. president trump has taken fundamentally different approach and we are confident that our strategy that we have developed not only the economic pressure but building out coalition forces in the straits of hormuz, working to reinforce our saudi and emirati partners, all the things that we have done to create the conditions for a more stable and peaceful and prosperous middle east, we think this is a part of. steve: mr. secretary, a number of democrats running for president have said yep, he was a bad guy. but, at the same time, a number of democrats are also wanting the president to explain what legal authority he used to take this guy out. because he wasn't just a terrorist. he was a member of the iranian government. >> yeah. we shouldn't forget it's general soleimani. he is a military commander. he is a military commander actively engaged in plotting to kill americans in the

region. we had an important set of underlying reasons to take this strike. it was wholly lawful. we are confident that we not only got it right legally but we got it right strategically. ainsley: we have heard the experts say this is the number two guy over there i know you delayed your trip to the middle east. what does this mean for negotiations going forward? >> i'm sorry is the question about iraq or iran? ainsley: well, what does this mean for negotiations going forward? i know you delayed your trip to the ukraine. what does this mean for negotiations with iran going forward? >> well, the president has been pretty clear. we don't seek war with iran. but we, at the same time, are not going to stand by and watch the iranians escalate and continue to put american lives at risk without responding in a way that disrupts, defends, deters and creates an opportunity to deescalate the situation. brian: are you prepared for the retaliation of our embassies around the region whether it's yemen, oman, iraq in particular, the way

they -- the one thing about iran and they even rumored to have sleeper cells here. they are -- they do -- they are pretty fanned out. how fortified and how firm are our defenses? >> yeah, brian. we have known for a long time that there was risks not only in baghdad at our embassy. but around the region. we have done all that we can to prepare to secure those fittings. departmenthose -- facilities. department of defense and say department worked clear. president trump is clear we will take all necessary action: brian: no doubt about it. reports were you were about to hit back at iran after they took out our 200-million-dollar drone. and others say you were ready and the president at the last minute changed his mind. when did the president make the decision and up until the last minute were you ready to back off had the

president changed his mind. >> brian i won't talk about the decision-making process. i will say it was a thoughtful approach, intelligence based approach. president trump through this pro-process was in charge of directing our actions. as we moved through the day yesterday, it became clear that we were going to have this opportunity to disrupt this plot and we achieved that. steve: mr. secretary, final question for you while brian was asking about the embassies and the potential for terrorism over there, for the folks watching right here, you know, they are way over there. there could be some terrorism here. but something that is a real concern is cyber terrorism. i would imagine that precautions have been taken to make sure they can't fiddle with our internet. >> there is always a risk of cyber attacks. they have a deep capability. know we have considered that risk. the risk in the united states is real too. soleimani the man we tack out yesterday orchestrated

an attack right here in washington, d.c. not too terribly long ago. it was unsuccessful. but that was him. that was this same guy. is he a bad actor. he was involved in the beirut bombings that killed americans. this is the guy with enormous blood on his hands. and the actions we took yesterday were both consistent with deterrence and with disrupting that imminent attack. steve: all right. mike pompeo, the secretary of state joining us on a very busy day. sir, thank you very much. ainsley: thank you. >> awnk all. brian: thanks for making time for us. we truly appreciate it? >> thank you, brian. ainsley: let's bring in retired bomb corps technician joey jones. good morning to you. >> good morning. ainsley: i know you lost both of your legs fighting for our country. what on a personal note does this mean to you? >> >> well, personally, it's kind of both ways, right? i'm absolutely in support of a president who is doyle take definitive action to support our country and defend it. secretary pompeo just said they believe there is imminent threat and eminent danger and this is a

preemptive strike to make sure whatever that imminent danger that was being planned didn't happen. as someone who has served in iraq 10 months and afghanistan as well i lost my legs there it's also a very solemn moment. i'm not big on the celebrations on twitter and the chest bumping. at the end of the day, this is an act that could lead to war or could allow iran to continue to do the things they do. and we're -- we have to be cautionary. we have to understand men and women are in danger now. they will fight with honor and they will win. have no doubt about that. but it's the path that we could be on and we have to at least respect that in some way. steve: right. you know, joey, it was just a couple of days ago. that the ayatollah himself said of donald trump, you know, he can't do anything to us. well, now fast forward to now and we took out his top commander of the quds force. now, he is saying there is going to be a crushing response. how worried should would he be? >> well, this is my first thought. when i heard this news yesterday, was that i hope and i have faith that our

pentagon, our leaders, and our president saw this three steps ahead. this has to be a strategic chess move not just a tactical mission. and so tactically, we executed this one mission very well. strategically, what are the next three things that will happen and are we planned for that. i hope that anyone that is within reach of iran, that is an american or a military force, is ready, prepared, and we have already game planned that. that's what we have to believe as american people and demand from our leaders. brian: you knew what it was like when there were over 100,000 in iraq. now we have got 5,400. we are getting another 100 marines to the embassy and 750 are in kuwait. that size force, how concerned are you or if at all that we have the wherewithal to stand up and harden targets and protect ourselves? >> well, that's what's in country. we probably have close to 1,000 marines on ships not far away. we also have military bases in europe with plenty of

troops there both marine corps and army. and the promise of the marine corps is anywhere within 72 hours with whatever size force necessary. and we have been able to employ that. have you 750 not just troops but troops that can basically jump in. that can be employed by air, land, or sea. so that's important to say, too. a thousand troops can go a long way in defending embassies and things like that. probably need much more than that if all out warren sues. i'm not saying that's what's going to happen. that's the risk and threat you have to be prepared for. the one thing i am not worried about at all is that our military is prepared, ready and employable for anything that may happen with iran. that is because we did fight a war for two decades. this as experienced and prepared and best led military we have ever had in the history of this country. i think the american people can take some resolve in that. ainsley: joey, respond how respond to attack on our embassy in iraq to president obama responding to

benghazi. >> well, i think they are two very separate incidents and they can't be seen that way. the biggest criticism of president obama was was he responding in a way to protect his 2020 -- or 2012 re-election? and i don't think that president trump is doing that i think that president trump set a policy from the very beginning in 2016 running for president that he would not handle incidents like this in a passive way. and the things that he has done as president up until now has shown that he has been very consistent with that the strike came in response to a u.s. contractor getting killed. and then i believe that we are prepared for anything to include such a protest against our embassy and that's why 100 marines showed up as quickly as they did and essentially pushed that away. steve: yeah. joey, we haven't heard from the president since he ordered this particular attack. well, we probably have. but not about this particular attack. but, on twitter, all he posted was and i'm sure you saw it was an american flag. >> i did. steve: what's he saying with

that? >> the president understands if you go into a something like this you need to have the american people behind you. they can turn on you like they did with bush. their sons and daughters going to war. one of thing we have asked for and should be demanding is key and specific strategy of why we are doing what we are doing and when we are going to be done with it. i think the president is looking to rally america to support this action. and hopefully in the coming days we will see that type of specificity and we will see it, you know, come to an i understand with something end with something that is positive to america and not just the next endless war. brian: right now they just have a place holder with prime minister. that prime minister was put in place by soleimani. he evidently brokered of the deal and put him in place. a lot of parliament picked by iran. they can have a vote and say we vote america out. very interesting what we're going to do if iraq led by

influence by iran votes us out. do we leave? >> well, that depends on whether or not we are in war. i think where we are today, perhaps that would be a viable option. we don't need an embassy or 750 troops there if we're not even protected by our host country. if iran retaliates today and somebody something else happens tomorrow, i don't know that it will be iraq's decision and that will be called war. that's exactly what that would be. what we have to hope for is analysts and contributors and experts and people like myself that haven't been there in 10 years this is not all-out war. this is very strategic and specific action by our government to protect our people and send a message that is heard by iran. steve: all right. joey jones joining us today. joey, thank you very much for your point of view. >> absolutely, have a good morning. steve: all right. straight ahead. it's 7:30 now in new york city. the price for killing americans has just gone up. that warning to our enemies coming from our next guest. senator lindsey graham joins us live with why this was

the exact right move to take out soleimani yesterday. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ well i'm standing here, looking at you, what do i see? ♪ there's a booking for every resolution . book yours at booking.com

steve: back with a fox news alert. a top iranian commander and general killed in a u.s. airstrike authorize yesterday by president trump. the state department urging all americans if you are in iraq leave. that's where soleimani was taken out at the airport. iran's supreme leader promising a harsh retaliation against the united states of america. brian: soleimani is accused of orchestrating the siege ever the american embassy in baghdad. that was the latist transgression. in the last week blamed for the deaths of thousands of troops in the past and he was the leader of the elite quds force. his successor has already been named but is he supposedly one of a kind.

ainsley: secretary of state mike pompeo tweeting out this video showing iraqiing celebrating in the streets after hearing about the general's death. secretary pompeo joined us just a few moments ago. >> president trump made the decision a serious decision which was necessary. there was an imminent attack orchestrated a primary motivator for the attack was qassem soleimani. you talk about who qassem soleimani is. he has hundred of american lives' blood on his hands. what was sitting before us was his travels throughout the region, his efforts to make a significant strike against americans that would have been many muslims killed as well, iraqis and people in other countries as well. brian: he was in on that decision to have that titanic strike. taking out arguably the second most important figure in iran. and this is general soleimani. he has been to the middle east probably more than any other active official. senator lindsey graham joins us now. he is chairman of the judiciary committee. member of the senate foreign relations committee.

he doesn't need notes to know what soleimani has done to americans in the past. sir, first off, senator, how significant is this move and what has soleimani done in the past to americans that you have seen? >> well, he has killed, i mean cone shaped ieds that killed over 600 americans came from iran. how significant is this? we killed the most powerful man in iran short of the ayatollah. he was the right fist of the ayatollah, and we took the ayatollah's arm off. but here -- this is not an act of revenge for what he has done in the past. this was a preemptive strike planned to take out the organize early of attacks yet to come. the intelligence was very strong that soleimani was orchestrating chaos in iraq at our expense and throughout the region. the president was informed of these potential attacks.

and he acted. this was a defensive strike to neutralize future attacks that were being planned and executed by soleimani and the popular motion in liminization front the shiite militias in iraq. steve: senator, it was preemptive because bad things were coming. the american government believed. the worry now is the retaliation because the iranians have pledged crushing response. you say next stop their oil fields. >> well, what i'm trying to do is create deterrence. so this was a preemptive attack that let everybody in the world know from north korea just anybody else that if you come after americans, on president trump's watch you do at your peril. all the things that soleimani had done in the past were real. but he is not dead today because of what he did in the past.

he is dead today because he miscalculated what president trump would do regarding future attacks. so, what are they thinking about tehran rate knew? revenge. what are they thinking about inside iraq? all of these shiite militias are going to have three days of mourning. what kind of demand and control do they have regarding tehran decisions to strike and what kind of strikes are they contemplating? how would you stop retaliation? through deterrence? what's the one thing the regime can't afford to lose? steve: oil. >> the ability to refine oil. what president trump has done is upped the ante as high as you can up it. he has killed the most konst sequential military leader in iran he has killed the guy spreading terror throughout the world. when you say that iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism, the question is

who leads that effort? it was soleimani. they will not let this go unanswered. steve: senator, have you spoken to the president? is this what he is thinking or is this what you are thinking? >> this is what i am thinking. i was briefed about the potential operation when i was down in florida. i appreciate being brought into the orbit. i really appreciate president trump letting the world know you cannot kill an american without impunity. we will stand up for our people and that is an an absolutely essential message. what will change iran? how we respond? they are going to come after us with a vengeance if we do not re-set the table pretty quickly. if i were the president, i would put on the table targets in iran not iraq. economic targets that crush the economy. >> the maximum pressure campaign has worked. what would take it to the next level would be destroy the ability of the iranians

to refine oil and sell it. the oil refineries are the last thing they have in terms of an economy. apes ainsley senator tonight's airstrike risk provoking furthest can a labor relation of violence america and the world cannot afford to have tensions escalate to the point of no return. ilhan omar is saying that this was conspiracy theory that the president just wants distraction from the impeachment trial. adam schiff said the world is better off without soleimani but congress didn't authorize the attack. what's your response? do you think congress should have made the decision or the president should have consulted congress? >> the last group of people you want to talk to about this is democrats in congress, republicans in congress. okay? as to omar, what president prest trump did save thousands of lives and our allies.

the attacks they were planning against american interests were real. the killing the contractor is foreshadowing of what was to come. to all of those democrats who criticizing the president i was aware of what his options were. they were about to unleash holy hell on our people on iraq and throughout the region and the president divisively took action. now, how do you prevent this from really going bad? put on the table quickly in my view the consequences of retaliation by iranians. they have got to know what comes next. we took out the number one military mind of iran. okay. the next thing we need to put on the table is the number one economic engine of iran is the oil refineries. the president has to convince the ayatollah that if he retaliates, our response will be greater than the market will bear. brian: senator, there is no diewnt aboudoubt about it.

george bush and barack obama had shots at him. did they make a mistake not taking those shots? >> well, see, this is always complicated. when the president brought it up to me, mobilization front. there are thousands of people in iraq being armed by iranians. these shiite militias are the ones that attacked our embassy. i'm worried about the stability of the iraqi government today. i have no idea how they are going to respond. soleimani was kidding in baghdad on iraqi soil. the reason action taken about to operationals further action. i hope they understand we are not going to allow our soldiers be attacked by outside interests like soleimani and people are going to pay a price if you come after an american even in iraq. we need them to reject the soleimani model and embrace

the fact that our troops are going to be protected. they need to help us protect our troops. i'm looking to the iraqis to up their game when it comes to helping us protect americans. brian: lawmakers in place. they will vote to expel us. >> some. okay. so this the kurds have no love for the iranians. the sunni iraqis have no love. you have got shiite iraqis. some of them spent time in iran during the war. they hated saddam but they are mostly shiite nationalists. they are iraqi nationalists. they have ties to the ayatollah, but there is an element inside of iraq that are completely wedded to the quds force and those are the ones i worry about. but the overwhelming opinion of iraqs is they don't want iran to run iraq. brian: i would think not. >> time testing of the iraqi political system and their

military system. they have got to choose between the ayatollah and us. steve: it's quite a choice. senator, thank you very much for joining us live. ainsley: thank you. brian: senator lindsey graham, good job. steve: we just heard senator graham say iran is fueled by oil and gas revenue and mission to take out the iran's top general impacting the market and price of gas. brian: military move is already having a big impact on your money. oil going up. he joins us next. ♪ we have a new product out ther: sensodyne rapid relief. if you use it on monday, by thursday, you'll be enjoying that chocolate ice cream again. they can start it, and 3 days later, i know that they're going to have the results they were looking for.

nyquil severe gives you powerful relief for your worst cold and flu symptoms, on sunday night and every night. nyquil severe. the nightime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, best sleep with a cold, medicine. >> good morning to you. back with quick headlines now. a judge allowing a texas hospital to take an 11-month-old girl off life support against the wishes of her parents. kinsley lewis who was born with a rare heart defect has been on life support since july. the hospital staff insisting keeping her alive is doing more harm than good.

>> all the things would have to do to keep her alive and keep herbert or keep her well is causing her pain and causing her suffering. and we don't work to do that an --don't want to do that any longer. jillian: make its own choice. kansasly's family saykinsly's fl the decision. >> house democrats fight to obtain secret grand jury materials from robert mueller's russia probe. they will also weigh in on whether former white house counsel don mcgahn must comply with a subpoena from the house judiciary committee. josh hawley is threatening to introduce a measure to dismiss the articles of impeachment. steve? steve: turning to a fox news alert. president trump has authorized the mission to take out iranian general soleimani in baghdad at the airport last night. brian: so many angles to this story what impact, for

example is it having on the market. stock market as well as oil prices? ainsley: here to discuss is host of varney and company on fox business network stuart varney. hey, stuart. >> good morning. ainsley: what does it mean for americans and money. >> i will give you an answer. stock market will be down sharply at the opening bell this morning. about an hour ago we thought it would be down 350 points on the dow. we have come back a little. we are going to be down about 250 points right now. okay. that's the stock market. that's your 401(k). the price of oil may have a more direct impact on people. the price of oil is up 2 bucks a barrel to $63 a barrel. that means that if that price is maintained, the current price of gas in america will rise. not that much. it will rise a little. we are now about 2.50 a gallon nationwide. you might go up a little bit from there if the oil price continues up. steve: we heard from lindsey graham. his suggestion to the president was if they tried some sort of retaliation we

should take out their oil refineries. >> yep. steve: these days, how much oil does iran actually produce? >> not that much. they can produce a lot but they can't sell it because of sanctions. steve: impact them greatly but us not so much. >> it wouldn't effect us that much. at the moment they are exporting we estimate 200, maybe 300,000 barrels of oil a day. which isn't much. it used to be 2 million barrels a day. if you completely take that out, 2 to 300 barrels a day taking it out of the world supply we can make it up here in america. we are producing 12.6 million barrels of oil a day and we can produce more because of our frackers. so i -- i'm sorry to interrupt you but, look, if you took out iranian oil installations, i don't think it would have that big an impact on us in america. brian: stu, we already got our lesson when they rowcketted the saudi oil fields. >> correct. brian: guess what happened? not much. >> do you know what happened? it was american frackers, american oil producers that

took up the slack. boosted production here, bailed out the world oil economy. brian: you mean the fracking that elizabeth warren will stop on day one of her administration. >> and bernie sanders, yes. not a good move. ainsley: thank you, stuart. walch him at 9:00 this morning on the fox business network. >> thanks, y'all. steve: lots to talk about, stuart. thank you. ainsley: iraqis celebrating in the streets overnight. who is general soleimani and who takes over now? we are live next. ♪ ♪ what are you doing back there, junior?

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steve: we have a fox news alert for you now. a successor has already been named to take over the top iranian general job who was killed in a u.s. airstrike yesterday in baghdad. brian: will he be age to fill his seeds. soleimani is accused of orchestrating the attack on

baghdad this week. now iran is promising retaliation. ainsley: ash shah has an aishahe is here. what can you tell us. >> general soleimani was known as the shadow commander because of the long shadow he cast across iran's borders without a whole lot of people knowing anything about him. the 62-year-old was designated as a terrorist by the u.s. in 2005. but he has been a leader of iran's elite intelligence wing called the quds force since 1998. now, under soleimani, the special forces have been quietly operating iranian proxy campaigns made up of some 20,000 militia fighters all across the middle east. and some analysts actually say he was attempting to spread iran's islamic revolution, the crescent through baghdad to da mat can you say and all the way to beirut where they would then be considered a direct threat to israel. soleimani is responsible for

killing more than 600 american troops during the iraq war. 17% of all u.s. deaths in iraq between 2003 and 2011 were orchestrated by soleimani. it's only recently this allusive leader taking interviews and appearing in photos around the region with the ayatollah. the state department also taking note recently of soleimani's visit to russia to meet with vladimir putin there. and then also his most recent presence in baghdad just a few weeks ago as iraqi officials were forming a government there if there is any doubt, guys, that he had a hand in this week's attack. take a look at this photo here. the words soleimani is our leader, in arabic, spray painted in red underneath that broken window at the u.s. embassy. now, as you said, yes. iran has named a successor this morning to that quds force i talked about. his name, brigadier general esmail ghaani now in charge of this. deputy commander under

soleimani for more than two decades. this seems like a natural move for iran. back to you. steve: so, aishah, in addition to being a general and a commander of the quds force, soleimani was a terrorist. >> there are absolutely people out there that say he has done so many horrible things. he obviously had his hand on so many different proxies all across the middle east. and, yes, he has been blamed for hundreds, if not thousands of deaths. steve: named a terrorist by the u.s. government. ainsley: in 2005. steve: thank you. >> absolutely. brian: he felt impervious and he obviously wasn't. steve: for years he has been operating with no trouble until yesterday. ainsley: we have been tracking him and known where he is for a long time. a big hour still ahead as we follow breaking news. geraldo rivera, presidential candidate tulsi gabbard and bret baier are going to join us live. ♪ ♪ liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need.

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- do that are degrading?ideo tapes, film reels, or photos, legacybox professionally converts them to dvds, thumb drive, or the cloud. legacybox is simple and safe, with over half a million satisfied customers. visit legacybox.com today, and get 40% off. brian: we're beginning with a fox news alert, a top iranian

general killed in a u.s. airstrike last night, president trump authoring the mission near a baghdad airport, and that happened last night. steve: general sulemani is accuseed of orchestrating if attack on the embassy in baghdad. ainsley: trey yingst is live in jordan. trey in. >> reporter: brian, ainsley, steve, you're going to hear a lot of politicians in washington today speculate about what happens next. the bottom line in the middle east is that no one knows. last night americans took out qassem sulemani who was responsible for a number of attacks against u.s. forces in the region. the united states blames him for the u.s. embassy siege that took place earlier this week for two days. what we saw last night was a drone take out a car that sulemani was riding in. additionally, certain others

were -- seven others were killed as well. the aftermath of that shows completely destroyed vehicles there. the state department today is warning americans who are in iraq to get out immediately. the iranians today saying they will respond. iran's supreme leader, the ayatollah khamenei, had implemented a mourning period of three days, vowing revenge saying this was a heinous crime committed by the united states. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo was speaking with all of you just last hour. take a listen to what he had to say earlier today. >> the risk of doing nothing was enormous, enormous in the short term in terms of the imminent attacks that he was plot, but also highly risky. it emboldens iran, it's what happened during the previous administration for eight years. >> reporter: secretary pom woe soak -- pompeo spoke with counterparts.

the reality on the ground is what happened last night, the united states assassinating the senior most iranian military official is anything but deescalation. steve: you're right about that, trey, thank you. ful let's bring in geraldo. >> good morning, everybody. brian: steve: geraldo, we know what happened. what happens next? >> well, first of all, if i can, this is far more significant long term than even the taking out of al-baghdadi. i would submit more important, significant than the taking out of bin laden. the taking out of sulemani is a gigantic tactical victory for the united states for the moment. we have taken out the main iranian mastermind. he was the secretary of defense, he was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, he was the head

of all special forces. he was in charge of forces in syria, in lebanon, in iraq and, of course, in iran -- steve: even had a role in afghanistan. >> this is huge. that does not mean to say that i believe that this was a smart move. i think that what we have done, we have been fighting bees. bees have been swarming all over us. we swat 'em here, we swat 'em there. they attacked our bases, they took out the contractor, they wounded a bunch of over people, they've killed a lot of people over the years. what we have done is killed the queen bee. the hive is now busted open. i fear the worst. i think that what we have done is unleash the beast to keep that metaphor going -- ainsley: what were we supposed to do, geraldo? this guy has blood on his hands. >> what else are we supposed to do. i think when the deescalation at the embassy happened a couple of days ago, that was the end of this chapter. the united states, with its firmness, had won the victory.

it wasn't going to be benghazi, it wasn't going to be, you know, tehran from 1980. we won that tactical victory. now we have taken this huge military escalation. now i fear the worst. you're going to see the u.s. markets go crazy today, you're going to see the price of oil spiking today. this is a very, very big deal. brian: and i don't know if you heard, but this isn't about his resumé of blood and death, it is about what was next. we stopped the next attack. that's what i think you're missing. steve: according to the secretary of state. >> by what, by what critical source can you predict what the next iranian move -- brian: the secretary staid american intelligence -- >> well, they've been excellent, the u.s. intelligence has been excellent since 2003 when we invaded iraq, disrupted the entire region for no real reason. don't for a minute start cheering this on. what you have done, what we have

done, we having unleashed -- brian: i will cheer it on. >> all right, well, you -- [inaudible conversations] >> never met a war he didn't like. brian: that is not true, and don't even say that. >> if president trump wantescalation -- brian: let him kill us for another 15 years. what about the 700 americans that are dead? should they not be happy because they're him? >> you know, what about the tens of thousands of iraqis who have died since 2003? you have to start seeing -- brian: what the hell are we doing in baghdad in the first place? >> why are we there? brian: you're blaming president bush for the maniacal -- >> i am blaming president bush in 2003 for those fake weapons of mass destruction that never existed -- brian: oh, my -- >> -- and the con job that drove us into that war. steve: i think there's a disagreement here on all of that. here is the sec tear of state one hour ago talking about how

this guy was a very bad guy. >> president trump made the decision, a serious decision which was necessary. there was an imminent attack. the primary motivator was qassem sulemani. you've also been talking about the history of who he is, hundreds of american lives' blood on his hands. but what was sitting before us was his travels throughout the region, his efforts to make a significant strike against americans. there would have been many muslims killed as well, iraqis, people of other cubs as well. -- countries as well. steve: he said that sulemani was actively developing plans to kill more americans. >> i don't know what the secretary's source is -- steve: and he won't tell us. >> all i know is that -- listen, i go back to what i started with, steve. in terms of tactical military operations, this was brilliant. this is the guy, the central figure in iraq.

brian: but you wish he was alive. >> we targeted him and asaws may noted him at baghdad airport with the use of probably israeli and u.s. combined intelligence. we knew when he was arriving, and we took him out. steve: so you think that was brilliant strategy, but you're just worried about what happens next. >> i believe in the trump doctrine. i think that president trump is sincere when he says he wants deescalation with north korea, that he wants peace in the middle east, that he wants a minimal amount of american forces in the region, enough to protect the kurds perhaps or, you know, the suez canal, the israelis and so forth. have them ready, have them nearby. but what this has done is it has -- i can't stress enough. i've gotten close to the iranians. i dragged brian into one of the sessions at the iranian embassy. they want to give their side of the story. what this has done is take these folks who are proud persians, they want a future for their

country, they're under crushing sanctions now, their economy has gone to hell in a hand basket. there's disruption in the streets of tehran in iran. you know, they are hurting. we pulled out of the nuclear deal because president trump thought it was a bad deal. brian: it was. >> all right. so you bought it. i just think that what you have done, what we have done here is unleash the tiger. ainsley: geraldo, if you have a school shooting, if you have a shooting in a synagogue, you're okay with taking out that terrorist, but you're not okay with taking out this guy who has killed 600 plus americans? this guy has blood on his hands. i understand that the kurds, they tell their individuals to go attack women in the streets, students in the street, and they kill them in plain sight, and these are innocent people. >> six months ago, ainsley, this guy was our friend. six months ago -- brian: he was not our friend. >> we may not have loved him, but he was our ally in the fight against isis. do you remember -- do we

remember isis? it's like isis never existed. isis was the, had a caliphate, they were cutting people's heads off. they were burning americans. who helped us defeat isis? this same guy. brian: excuses for iran. >> dammit, i'm not making excuses, brian. brian: let me finish -- can i get a sentence out? you're saying they're suffering under sanctions. they still choose to take that money and spend it on islamic jihad, not their people. to the point, when those people rose up when they rose up gas prices and food prices and they're protesting in their streets, when their gas prices went up because they know their government's wasting money -- >> we're forcing their prices to go up -- [inaudible conversations] >> we agreed to a deal. brian: because he couldn't. he didn't even get senator schumer's vote or ben cardin's

vote on that. >> your arrogance is exactly what's wrong with the -- brian: my arrogance -- [inaudible] not agreeing with you? >> you're not a front line fighter that has to go back into iraq. again, you want -- [inaudible conversations] brian: just got killed because -- >> you want americans back in iraq -- [inaudible conversations] >> i was there when they were getting killed. is that what we want again? [inaudible conversations] brian: they supported the whole insurgency. >> this is a fraught decision that will have implications far beyond the celebratory moment of the taking out of the terrorist. now we got him, we killed him fair and square, we got him on the steps -- ainsley: if i have a child, i have one daughter, if she's fighting for our cup and we just prevented her death, i'm glad he's dead. >> ainsley, i appreciate that. i know how you love your

daughter. if president trump is right, president trump would not send your daughter into conflict in this impossible place where they have been fighting for thousands of years, where they will be fighting for thousands more years. our priority should be protecting your daughter -- ainsley: that's right. and that's what -- >> and i don't think that, i don't think this act does that. steve: okay. we can always count on you for a different point of view. ainsley: we will agree to disagree. >> but i love you, you know i do. [laughter] even brian. sometimes i hold my nose, but i love the guy. so brilliant, but -- steve: okay. geraldo, thank you very much. 8:11 now after that spirited debate. jillian joins us now with some -- >> that's right, good morning. a number of other stories, the man accused of stabbing five people at a hanukkah celebration is expected back in court today. the daughter of a critically injured victim now calling on people to stand up against hate. >> please, stand up and stop this hatred.

it cannot keep going on. we want our kids to go to school and feel safe, we want to go to our synagogues and feel safe. >> grafton thomas is accused of using a machete to attack jews inside a rabbi's home in new york. congress returning to work today with an impeachment-heavy schedule. lawmakers are set to argue over house democrats' fight to obtain secret grand jury materials from robert mueller's russia probe. they will also weigh in on whether former white house counsel don mcgahn must comply with a subpoena from the house judiciary committee. meanwhile, senator josh holly is threatening to introduce a measure to dismiss the articles of impeachment. take a look at this, a twin engine jet sliding off a runway, closing a small utah airport. the plane hit a patch of ice coming in for a landing. none of the three people onboard were hurt. and in massachusetts a huge chunk of ice smashed into a wind

shield, sending a family of four to the hospital. the drive was seriously hurt. the ice came loose from a box truck. those are your headlines, back to you. brian: plenty of other news. mean while, bark to our -- back to our top story, shock waves being sent around the world. ainsley: bill bill net says this is -- bill bennett says this is a game-changer. he's going to explain why coming up next. and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small... ...can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette

brian: president trump authorizing the mission to kill iranian leader qassem soleimani with an airstrike on friday. iowas ames so what will be the lasting impact? steve: joining us, former drug czar and fox news contributor, dr. bill bennett. bill, good morning to you. >> good morning. spirited discussion you had earlier. steve: it was, indeed. all right. so this guy was a bad guy. clearly, he's got the blood of many americans on his hands. the big question now and the one that people are wondering about as they look in is what sort of retaliation will iran be able to scrape together and impact us directly? >> well, i don't know, and nobody knows for sure what will happen. i'm better on history, what happened in the past, than what's going to happen in the future. but something will happen. but let's be clear about one thing, it's not as if this event will turn the iranians into bad

people seeking to do harm to us. the iranian regime, i should say, not the people. because this regime has been wanting to do harm to us for a long time and has been doing harm to us. my goodness, you know, the argument is now we've made them angry, what will they do. my guess is if it were in their powers, they would have done even more to us in the past than they've done. i don't think they have that kind of power. i don't think they have the kind of power that they boast about. they certainly don't have the power of the united states. but they do have the power to kill americans, and they've killed a lot of them. and that should be enough justification. i've heard these arguments this morning from democrats and from some commentators, well, you know, we just, we just have to calibrate exactly what they'll do. we don't know exactly what it is they'll do and why now. well, we were justified in doing this years ago. we could have done this anytime with moral justification. finish the fact that it happened now as opposed -- i suppose, is

a function of the specifics that mike pompeo was referring to but wouldn't reveal. brian: one thing about him that's different from killing other leaders is that he did have tactical talent. >> yes. brian: he did plot and plan. he did have natural leadership. he is going to extremely hard to replace because you can't replace his mind and experience. even if you could replace his position, do you agree with that? >> yeah, sure. and he was also very popular, very strong, they listened to him on a lot of things. he had total control of the field in a lot of circumstances. and he was revered. and that ought to send a message. the united states can take out your guy, your main guy, your main strategist, your guy who directs the actions of the military and the quds. so i think that'll give them some pause. maybe they'll try to kill somebody in a restaurant here in d.c. hike they did before, maybe they'll, you know, organize more

demonstrations, maybe they'll try to do something even more. but you notice i don't see israel criticizing the united states, i don't see the israeli leadership saying, well, you know, what was the president thinking and does he have any idea what's going to happen next. they understand what we're up against. you know, i think the real impact on this at home may be just the deepening of this political divide. you know, we have the socialism-capitalism debate about the economy in we have a debate here about what we do with our enemies. do we try to buy them off as we did in the obama administration, or do we confront them and say this far and no further. in fact, you've gone too far. ainsley: all right. we'll see how this all plays out. i know you've said it's going to be a game-changer and the rules will change going forward. thank you so much, bill, for being with us. >> and the children are watching, you know? this is a teachable moment right now. thank you. steve: thank you, sir. meanwhile, straight ahead, some 20 presidential candidate

democrats slamming the president for the strike that killed iran's top general and commander. brian: where does congresswoman tulsi gabbard stand? she's running for president. does she think this was the right move? we'll find out next. ♪ ♪ so the whole world looks different. the unbeatable strength of advil. what pain? ior anything i want to buy isk going to be on rakuten. rakuten is easy to use, free to sign up and it's in over 3,000 stores. i buy a lot of makeup. shampoo, conditioner. books, food. travel. shoes. stuff for my backyard. anything from clothes to electronics.

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what? what are we -- ainsley: how do you justify that? >> what is the end state and the goal here? look, i've said for a long time that going to war with iran would make the war in iraq and even afghanistan look like a picnic. it will be far more costly and devastating in american lives and in taxpayer dollars. and i don't believe the american people want to go to war with iran. they understand how serious this is. ainsley: congresswoman, how do you justify it when you lack at the statistics? 70% of all u.s. deaths in iraq from 2003-2007 were orchestrated

by assume handny. when they -- sulemani. are we supposed to just stand by and let the iranian-backed militias invade our territory and possibly kill americans? >> no, look, there is no question about how evil this guy is. no one should shed a single tear for his death. but that's not really the question here. the real question is what are we trying to accomplish here in this country, and where will this decision that this president made to escalate this, these tensions and this crisis and commit this act of war without congressional authorization? it will lead us to an outcome that actually further undermines our national security and needlessly sends more of our troops into harm's way. you know, trump talked a lot in his campaign for the presidency and even since he's been in office about how he wants to end forever wars, but his actions tell a different story.

just since may of last year alone, may of 2019 alone, we've seen more than 15,000 u.s. troops, additional u.s. troops being deployed across the middle east. all of these actions pushing us closer and closer to this war with iran. and this step that he just took last night seriously, seriously escalated the situation. brian: so when you look at their influence in iran, when you look -- excuse me, in syria, when you look at iran's influence in lebanon, when you look at iran's influence in iraq, when you look at their influence without the, throughout the region and now their pursuit, covert and overt of a nuclear weapon, are you comfortable with us just pulling back and watching, sitting in the stands and saying pass the popcorn? >> no. i think we need to figure out why and how we've gotten to this point where iran has a much greater level of influence and presence in iraq and syria. as you mentioned.

it was because of our regime change wars in iraq and and libya and syria that we've seen these countries turn iraq and syria especially turn more towards iran for help and for assistance, strengthening their partnerships and allowing for iran to gain far greater influence and presence in many different respects in these countries. really the question that we need to ask ourselves now is we have men and women in harm's way today in these countries, and what purpose are they serving? originally it was that they needed to go and to prevent another al-qaeda insurgency, an attack and threat to the united states, to defeat these terrorists that attacked us on 9/11. that's the congressional authorization that our troops are there for. but really what we're seeing now is that's not actually the case. al-qaeda's stronger, and it is becoming more clear that our troops are really there to fight

against iran. once again, a war that congress has not authorized. there has been no -- brian: right. i don't think -- [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] i think that was a response to the -- >> it just happened. it just happened though. steve: congresswoman, you mentioned congress. congress returns to work together. that's your other full-time job in addition to running for president. you know, a lot of people are looking in at nancy pelosi and wondering what exactly is happening with impeachment. she still hasn't turned over the articles to the senate as is required by the constitution, and now we hear that josh howley from the great state of missouri, the senator there -- >> missouri. steve: -- on monday is going to essentially say, you know what? let's move to remove these because, let's throw them out because the house is playing politics with this. >> i haven't seen what senator howley has down, but i will -- has done, but i will say what i've said really all along, this

impeach appointment has only proven to further strengthen trump. it's increasing the likelihood that it'll be harder for us to defeat him, it'll increase the likelihood that republicans take the house and the senate which i don't think is a good thing for the country. i'm running for president, and i believe that we can remove him from office at the ballot box. we can defeat him at the election in 2020 so that we can bring people together in this country and actually bring about that positive change, you are scherr in -- usher in that new era of opportunity and respect and equality for all americans. that's what i'm working towards. steve: are you -- go ahead. ainsley: what needs to be done? the iowa caucus is in literally a month. i think it's february 3rd, right? >> it is, your right. ainsley: what needs to be done to get the anticipation of the voters? >> reaching out and visiting with voters every single day across the early states and connecting with them. and what's really incredible and inspiring to me is that, you know, at our town hall last night and every single day we

have democrats, republicans, independents and libertarians who are coming together and really putting country first. wanting to break this hyperpartisan gridlock in washington that's standing in the way of progress and recognizing, hey, we will agree to disagree on maybe a few issues or maybe even a lot of issues. but when we come together and stand together as americans rooted in our constitution, our bill of rights, who we are as a country, then we can work together side by side and find that path forward towards that better and brighter future. steve: was the water off of new hampshire colder than the water off of hilo on the first today of the year -- first day of this year? [laughter] >> only slightly. i have never experienced such cold in my life. it was, it was a wonderful way to usher in the new year. i had a wet suit on that day,

and so it was just my face that was exposed that was cold. but the day before just briefly i want to share i joined a family who have lost two, they lost their two oldest sons to the opioid crisis. brian yeah, that's definitely important. thanks so much, congresswoman tulsi gabbard, appreciate it. >> thank you. dissolves in seco, so it's ready to work before your first sip, and absorbs quickly to target and attack 8 cold and flu symptoms fast. try theraflu.

steve: we are back with a fox news alert, our top story. iran now promising retaliation against the united states of america after their top iranian general and commander was killed in an airstrike authorized the by president trump. the state department now urging all americans in the country of iraq to leave. that is where sulemani was when, as you can see from those images, he was taken out in that strike at the airport. ainsley: he is a bad guy. he was accused of orchestrating the siege of the american embassy in baghdad this week along with the deaths of

hundreds -- 600,000 we know of, maybe more -- of u.s. troops in the past. he led iran's elite quds force, a success has already been named to take his place. brian: secretary of state mike pompeo tweeting out this video, apparently showing iraqis celebrating and dancing in the streets after hearing of the general's death. let's bring in dan crenshaw now, member of the house committee on homeland security, former navy seal, served in iraq and afghanistan, now serving in real combat in washington as well which is also physical and also very, i guess you could call it, trench warfare. first off, congressman, are we safer with the general dead? >> first of all, thanks for having me. and the answer is, absolutely yes. sulemani was responsible for the death of hundreds of americans. he planned executed attacks on americans, gave ieds to shia militias in iraq that are responsible for over 600 american deaths not to mention

all the deaths around the region, syria, lebanon, iraq and elsewhere, houthi rebels in yemen. so this guy's been a force of destruction and death in the region for a long time. the he's the head of one of the largest terrorist organizations in the world, the iranian quds force, so, yes, we are safer. are there going to be consequences? of course there would be. i would fully expect the iranians to plan some kind of retribution. but here's the thing, we have to disabuse ourselves of this notion that we should simply continue to take punches, okay? iran attacked our base recently, then they attacked our embassy where they fully supported the shia militias that did it. are we supposed to just let that happen? and to say yes would be absurd, and i don't understand when americans become so fearful. you know, we -- the countless people on the left tweeting out apologies and blaming our own government for taking action to kill a man who has killed americans.

and i don't understand where this american self-loathing came from and, frankly, thank god they're not in charge. steve: across the aisle from you there are a number of democrats, we've got a tweet from ilhan omar, they want the president to explain what legal authority he used to carry out this attack. we had secretary of state mike pompeo on with us a little while ago, and he said it wasn't for what sulemani has orchestrated so far, it was what would happen in the future because they were plotting more attacks. >> yeah. well, i can certainly -- [inaudible] i mean, first of all, yeah, this was a, this was a strike that was in response to are recent strikes -- to very recent strikes against us. so there was a self-defense mechanism to this. furthermore, the preventive measures. but beyond that, this happened in iraq against an enemy that attacks us in iraq in which we

have plenty of authorization to be operating in. this is not an attack on the iranians. it's like saying when there was foreign fighters in iraq throughout the iraq war, that we should not have let our soldiers engage with them because we hadn't declared war upon that particular country. that's an absurd thing to say. and these members of congress know that, or maybe they don't know that. i'm here to tell them that. and all this hand-wringing that they're doing certainly didn't occur during the obama administration, and i wish they would just lee the hypocrisy aside, the partisanship aside. we need to come together. we should be talking about as a congress what authorizations we should give to the president just in case these disturbances around the region continue to escalate. the last thing we should be doing is looking to our past, and i'm friends with tulsi gabbard, but to say that what we should be doing is looking to our past and trying to analyze why this happens, that's absurd. that's a great academic

argument, but it doesn't help us in our current reality. we have an enemy that does want to destroy us. and we do have to deal with that. we didn't look at historical textbooks to solve this problem. we have a choice between peace and war, and if we want peace, we can surrender to them right now. of course, stealing that quote from reagan. but that's not a good strategy. all right? it's a fearful strategy. it's certainly not a strategy for a country like the united states of america. ainsley: dan -- brian: the one thing we've got to worry about is the next ten. be prepared for the next step. if you were in command control now know we just took out the number two most important person in iraq, what would you be most focused on at this hour? >> what we know the iranians are very good at is surrogate warfare. this was what sulemani did, okay? he built surrogates trout the region -- throughout the region that could attack us on owl

fronts. we should be bolstering defenses in our bases in iraq, in bahrain and elsewhere. and helping our allies in israel. that's what we should be doing in the short material. ainsley: all right, dan. thank you for your service. good luck in congress. thanks for weighing in. bret baier's going to join us next. we'll be right back. ♪

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ainsley: let's bring in bret baier, he ia political anchor, as you know, for the fox news channel and editor of special report with bret baier and author of three days at the brink. hey, bret, thanks for joining us. >> good morning. ainsley: all this news was breaking last night, and we're getting word now that iraq's parliament will convene an emergency session on saturday, tomorrow, according to the deputy speaker of the iraqi parliament.

he says the meeting will make decisive decisions to put an end to the u.s. presence inside iraq. what do you think? >> well, that's significant, and we'll see what transpires. remember that the iraqi prime minister had condemned the attack on sulemani and has already smoke out about it. -- spoken out about it. it's also interesting steve hayes with the dispatch pointing out that the prime minister was in real trouble in october and iran kind of shored him up. the person who they sent to shore the iraqi prime minister up qassem soleimani, the guy who was killed last night. there is a lot of reaction throughout the middle east, obviously. you seeing -- you're seeing secretary of state pompeo tweet out pictures of rejoicing in the streets. there obviously will be some pushback, some retaliation. you're hearing democrats on your program and others saying that sulemani is far more dangerous as a martyr than he was alive. and that this is kind of

shooting from the hip foreign policy. republicans are saying that the president said if you attack americans or american interests, we will punch back and that as opposed to president obama, republicans will say, who drew a red line and didn't enforce it, the president is making clear he will. steve: that's right. bret, we were watching an interview you did with the secretary of state, mike pompeo, back in april. and for a lot of people, they had never heard the name of commander sulemani. but essentially the secretary of state said he was a terrorist, and now we've learned of the hundreds of americans who have lost their lives and thousands who lost a limb at the operations that he orchestrated. going forward, how many there in washington, how many members of congress are going to clamor for some sort of an explanation from the president about what legal authority he had to pull the trigger? >> i think there'll be a lot of that, there'll be a lot of asking, you know, what happened specificically.

listen, i've been following qassem soleimani for many years, i spent some time in iraq where these ieds, roadside bombs, took out hundreds of american soldiers and service people. and as you mentioned, wounded thousands. he was a bad, bad character. the question is what comes next. and how does iran respond. we're being told, and not only from u.s. officials, but also a diplomat in the region, that this was an imminent attack in the making that was being backed by qassem soleimani and the iranians on american interests whether it was the u.s. embassy or other interests. and also remember that iran did attack that saudi facility and did other things that hadn't been responded to as of yet. so expect this volley, this back and forth perhaps to continue for some time. brian: yeah. how about taking out our $200 million drone, attacked the saudis. and then they attack our embassy and we react and they say what authority do we have?

what authority does the american military have to protect american interests? i laugh at the premise of that question. meanwhile, on a much lighter note, on january 18th, long in the making, once again you are convening an all-star panel for a a great cause at the ritz carlton in naples, or florida. it's the all-star panel event.com is where to get tickets. what's going to be taking places there, bret? tell everybody. >> now tell me. [laughter] no, it's going to be fun. it's great to have you on the panel. we've done this for this is the third year, all star possible event -- all star panel event.com. my son had open heart surgery, we've been raising a ton of money, and it'll be a really fun time in naples, florida. tickets are going fast, and you never know what brian's going to say. [laughter] you never know. steve: but i don't understand, why would anybody want to go to florida on january 18th? come on, it's beautiful up here right now. [laughter] >> we're going to have a good time, it'll be goodwet and who

knows -- good weather and who knows what we'll talk about. brian: people always say you get a chance to interabout on a more personal level as opposed to on television in different cities, you get that time in that same place, find out we're normal people. >> behind the scenes, you know, what really happens up there on the curvy couch. [laughter] ainsley: i love this. brian was talking about this, calling it the all-star panel, because he's on it. >> there you go. [laughter] brian brian last year -- steve: and this year. finish. ainsley: bret, he used to have a radio show called kill immediate and friends. now he took out the friends, now it's brian kilmeade's show. >> this is an all-star panel. ainsley: br earnings t, i think it's awesome that you're using platform to save kids' lives. how's your son doing? >> doing great. tallest kid in the class. happy new year to you guys. brian: all right --

>> no dash. all star panel event.com. steve: gotcha. brian brian i'll get rid of the dash. >> watch him tonight, 6:00 right here on the channel. mean while, ten minutes before the top of the hour, the united states bracing for some sort of retaliation from iran, but our next guest warns our airstrike should serve as a warning to our adversaries, don't mess with the u.s. ainsley: former special forces sniper ted kennedy is going to join us live. ♪ sometimes your small screen is your big screen.

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>> a major escalation in the standoff between the u.s. and iran. iran now vowing harsh retaliation. join us with reaction and analysis this morning. joining us is congressman michael waltz from house armed services, retired four-stair

general jack keane, thom tillis and walid phares. join us live from america's newsroom, top of the hour, as coverage of this breaking news rolls on this morning. >> made the decision, a serious decision which was necessary. there was an imminent attack. the work straighter -- orb straighter of the attack was qassem soleimani. got hundreds of american lives' blood on his hands. but what was sitting before us was his travels throughout the region, his efforts to make a significant strike against americans. there would have been many muslims killed as well, iraqis, people from other country as well. brian: that was secretary of state mike pompeo moments ago. iran promising retaliation after u.s. airstrikes kill general soleimani, and what message does it send to the rest of the world. and for those on the ground wearing american camouflage?

former special forces sniper tim kennedy joins us now to discuss. tim, i'll put you back in country. you're one of the 5,400 in iraq right now. you hear this news, what are you thinking? >> i mean, first, you're rejoicing, right? you're doing a happy dance. this man is a horrible human. he did terrible things to americans. i lost a friend ten days ago, we haven't even put him in the ground yet, and this man's fingerprints are on that. mike, i miss you, buddy. but if you're in country, you're changing batteries, checking magazines because, you know, these are not uncharted waters. we have killed bad people before, but with we know what happens after we kill bad people, there could be retaliation. you know, ultimately we are there to provide security and safety in the region and to protect our interests, and we're going to do just that. brian brian saturday -- and i know you don't do the diplomatic diplomatic, but the iraqlys are going to expel us from their

country. if they want us out, do we leave? >> yeah, so, i mean, when i was there fighting in iraq, there was this bad guy that was running the country at the time, and we invaded that country. so you don't get to throw us out after we invade your country because you started a war. it's not as simple as that. and if you have a terrorist on your soil and you're allowing him to be there after he was the architect behind an attack on our embassy? like, there's a lot of crossed wires and gray areas here that are nuanced conversations that are going to have to be discussed. [laughter] brian: you don't do nuance well. tim kennedy, thanks for -- >> black and white. brian: yeah, i know. thanks for your perspective and thanks so much for joining us. we've got to talk about guns in that texas shooting, but this is news that kind of blew us away today. more "fox & friends" in just a m moment. d only imagine enjoying freshly squeezed orange juice. now no fruit is forbidden.

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>> for tickets to the all-star event, go to the all-star panel event website. there you go. all-starpanelevent.com. hope to see you in naples on the 18th. >> sandra: fox news alert on the major escalation in the standoff between the u.s. and iran. an american air strike in baghdad killing tehran's top military commander, general general qassem soleimani. her ongoing harsh retaliation. iranian president has some running to eating in part, "the great nation of iran will take herevenge for this heinous crim" >> leland: nice to be with you. it's hard to overstate how important soleimani was in the middle east over the past decade. i'm leland vittert in for bill hemmer. the pentagon calling this decisive action, saying he was plotting against american troops and diplomats around the region. his death has sparked cebr