>> 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 celebration in the streets of

baghdad, but the state department is urging u.s. citizens to leave iraq immediately. >> sandra: meanwhile, secretary of state mike pompeo giving me reaction on fox news earlier this morning, saying soleimani force the president's hand. >> president trump made the decision, a serious decision, which was necessary. there was an imminent attack. it don't like the orchestrator was qassem soleimani. what was sitting before us was in his travels thereof region an effort to make a significant strike against americans. there would have been many muslims killed, as well. iraqis, people in other countries come as well. it was a strike aimed at both disrupting that plot, deterring further aggression. we hope setting the conditions for distillation. >> sandra: congressman michael waltz a standby direction. with a closer look at who soleimani was. true youngsters reporting live from amman, jordan. trey >> good morning, major

escalation overnight as the united states assassinated the top commander in the iranian army. this major escalation, as a drone fired at baghdad's international airport took out two vehicles, taking out eight people, including that top commander and also deputy commander and the iraqi-she a militia. after rising tensions this week, a seat on the u.s. embassy in baghdad that was a result of continued clashes between the iranians and the americans. the u.s. killing 25 iranian-backed fighters on sunday, and before that a rocket attack the friday before they killed an american contractor. moving forward today, the iranians are going to respond. as you mention, iranian president hassan rouhani has mentioned his country will take revenge for what he's calling "a heinous crime." the supreme leader, the ayatollah khamenei, saying they will be the three-day mourning period. people still braiding in the square, this demonstrate is

protesting the government's involvement with the iranian regime for months now. others and iran vowing to revenge against the united states. calling on the redeemed to respond swiftly. the irc, collier gc today saying they would accept anything but a great response. here's what mormons the reef had to say today. >> america's action, without any doubt, is and action of state terrorism. murdering persons who dedicated their entire lives to fighting to renee oppression, terrorism, and extremism. >> secretary of state mike pompeo has reiterated on television also released to the media today that the united states is committed to de-escalation in the middle east. what happen last night, the united states taking out the most senior member of the iranian military, is anything but de-escalation. sandra? >> sandra: trey yingst in jordan this morning, thank you. >> leland:'s a who

general soleimani was. the leader of the iran elite quds force, he was one of the most powerful leaders in the middle east from a military standpoint. he reportedly masterminded major military operations, bombings and assassinations. he was designated a terrorist by the united states in 2005. lucas tomlinson digging in more on this. at one point like general patton in the united states. lucas? >> he sure was, leland. soleimani made a number of trips that baghdad. the u.s. military was waiting. he got off his plane from lebanon and u.s. drones circling overhead, this is how the former chairman of the of the joint chiefs of staff described and meant as iranian-backed proxies. >> i know a number of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines killed by iranian activities. the number was reading the quote is 500. we aren't always able to attribute the casualties we had to iranian activity, although many times we suspected it was

iranian activity even if we didn't have the forensics support that. >> the state department said soleimani and has fighters where spots will for killing 608 troops. he perfected the use of explosive foreign penetrators, which slice through american armor with devastating effect. the commander wasn't just a threat to the middle east. in 2011 he ordered the assassination of saudi arabia's assassination to the united states outside a popular georgetown restaurant here in washington. jennifer griffin and i first reported back in july 2015, 10 days after the iran nuclear deal, he made a trip to moscow in violation of sanctions to meet vladimir putin and top officials the plan russia and iran's deployments to syria to shore up the assad regime. making for a de facto alliance with the u.s. military. but now ice is largely is defeated and iran has launched 11 rocket attacks on u.s. forces

in iraq since late october, trying to push them out of the country once again. until last night, the leader of the top has below , 25 of his iranian-backed proxies were killed by u.s. jet sunday. he was photographed alongside other leaders outside the u.s. embassy in baghdad earlier. also, graffiti on the compound said, "soleimani is our leader." officials here say not anymore. they planned a bombing two days after the beirut bombing. iran's supreme leader has already named a replacement for soleimani. we'll wait to see what his next steps will be, leland. >> leland: the israelis have been tracking soleimani for a long time. lucas tomlinson come a long night and long day ahead of your reporting. thank you so much. sandra? >> sandra: months ago, the president tweeting this. "qassem soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of americans over an extended period of time and was plotting to kill many more, but got caught. he was directly and indirectly

responsible for the deaths of millions of people, including the recent large number of protesters killed in iran itself. while iran will never be able to properly admit it, soleimani which is hated and feared within the country. they are not saddened as they would let the outside world believe. he should have been taken out many years ago." let's bring in michael waltz, he's a member of the house armed services committee. lieutenant colonel in the armory and a former green brake commander who served in afghanistan good morning to you, sir. the tail end of the president street, he said it should have been done years ago. there was the opportunity. why now? >> i think they have the operational opportunity, and this president, this commander in chief, took decisive and bold action. in fact, you will hear a lot of carping in washington about authorities and whether this is an unwarranted escalation. i think it was his absolute duty to take this action. if we have actionable

intelligence that soleimani is going to again kill americans and continue to kill people across the middle east and don't do anything, in action has consequences, as well. this was his duty to save lives. and that is absolutely what he did. as a defensive measure, any american, and the american military and certainly the commander in chief, they have the authority to protect american sovereignty and to protect american military. they were imminently going to be attacked. he was absolutely right to do this and i fully support it as a member of congress. >> sandra: to report last night, after the news broke you said there will be a lot of critics in washington. some of the response we've already heard from various democratic presidential candidates. joe biden, donald trump, throwing dynamite into tinderbox. nancy pelosi said these are tensions escalating to the point of no return. i hear you making the point that this was the right move. mark esper, the defense secretary, joined us on this

program about this time yesterday ahead of the attack. he said this about preemptive action. >> i'm not going to talk about with the president is or is not considering, but he is committed to defending our interests, our personnel, our friends in the region, and of course standing up to iran the deterring iranian bad behavior. we have a respond or take preemptive action is necessary to make sure we defend those interests. >> sandra: hearing your support for this action in this move, what about that? what about this being a preemptive move, as we've heard from his administration and the defense team, that they would always be defensive? >> that's right. secretary esper, general milley, the chairman, national security advisor o'brien, they know what they're doing. we don't wait until there is more american body bags to then take action. you hear criticism for me if he did not take action to stop a me americans from getting killed. the president's right, this is

long overdue. this should have been done overr the obama administration pray that civilian killed last week under soleimani's direction as he was rocketed on a base would be alive today. not to mention the tens of thousands of syrians, lebanese, and iraqis across the middle east would be alive today if we had taken them out years ago. that's why you are seeing people across the middle east celebrate his death. the human rights abuses alone that he is responsible for should be cause for celebration. it saddens me to see partisan politics of course coming in, criticism just because it's president trump. we should be celebrating this as an american victory today because that's exactly what it is. >> sandra: we know that he is promising retaliation. in what form, we don't know. lindsey graham was on fox this morning and he says iran has to know what comes next. the president had to convince the ayatollah of the oil refineries are as grass. what is the message that needs to be sent this morning?

>> the message has been sent. everyone is afraid of iran's response. i think the regime right now is afraid of america's response. that is where we want them. we want them in a position of weakness and we want them afraid of what we will do next. that's how you de-escalate the situation, by showing strength. iran is emboldened by weakness, and they have expected weak and feckless responses in the past. now they are thinking otherwise. that's how you de-escalate the situation, by showing strength and by deterrence. that's exactly what the president is going to do. >> sandra: when it comes to retaliation from in what form, we don't know. cyber attacks, terrorism. how do protect americans at home and abroad? final thoughts. >> we are hardening, our embassy and our forces on high alert. i think the next round of response has already been approved by this white house and his national security team. we have flip the tables on the iranian regime and we are continuing to pressure their

economy. with the regime cares about the most is its own survival. they are going to think twice about taking these kinds of actions and killing americans. >> melissa: congressman, we appreciate your time this morning. thank you for your service. more reaction to the top military commander had come in general jack keane joins us. retired four-star general. later, our headliner will join us. north carolina senator thom tillis, sits on the senate armed services committee. in the 11:00 hour we will be speaking with house until member congressman brad wenstrup. a big lineup for you this morning on the breaking news. >> leland: as you alluded to, sandra, this prompted for his reaction on capitol hill, mostly down party lines. we will dig into what both sides are saying. >> sandra: several democrats entering the new year with a lot of campaign cash. we see the numbers, elizabeth warren saw a drop in celebrating. but the massachusetts senator insisting her strategy is still the right one. >> i didn't spend one single

minute selling access to my time to millionaires and billionaires. i did this grassroots, all across the country. i'm proud of the grassroots army that we are building. i wish i had gone into aspen dental much sooner. when you're not able to smile, you become closed off. having to live with bad teeth for so long was extremely depressing. now, i know how happy i am. there was all the feeling good about myself that i missed and all of the feeling bad about myself that was unnecessary. at aspen dental, we're all about yes. like yes to free exams and x-rays for new patients without insurance. yes to flexible hours and payment options. and yes, whenever you're ready to get started, we are too. don't wait, book at aspendental.com or call today. a general dentistry office.

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. ♪

$12.99 all you can eat ♪ now with boneless wings. only at applebee's. >> leland: top congressional leaders are split pretty much down party lines following that u.s. air strike that killed one of iran's top military commanders. republicans appraise the president's response to what the secretary of state called an imminent threat. democrats slammed the decision not goo to consult congress. nancy pelosi says there's possible consequent this, that the highest priority is to protect american lives and interests but we can put the lives of american service members, diplomats, and others for their risk by engaging and provocative and his proportionate actions. byron york, my chief political

correspondent and fox news contributor. we later hear that she and the defense secretary spoke after the strike, not before. that reporting for mark meredith. byron, politico and their morning note says trump made his most consequential decision as president. agree or disagree? >> reaction has been split along party lines. first of all, though, everybody says that soleimani was a bad actor who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of americans. so there really is bipartisan agreement on that. after that, it pretty much stops. what we've seen as a number of influential republicans. lindsey graham lindsey graham, tom cotton, marco rubio, ben sasse, kevin mccarthy, dan crenshaw, all come out in support of what the president did. saying it's high time that general saloom on a got what he deserved. what you are hearing from democrats are two issues. one, they were angry that they

were not consulted ahead of time on this. and the other is that they wonder whether this was actually justified and legally justified. they want secretary of state pompeo to produce that intelligence he was talking about, about an imminent attack on americans. >> leland: excellent point. let's listen to one cory booker, still running for president. >> he has american blood on his hands but we also have to look at the larger strategic situation in that area. we have a president who has had a really a failure in his iranian policy, a larger strategic plan that has made that region less stable and less safe. speaks of in the counterargument is that the iran dealings giving billions of dollars is what made the region less safe and emboldened to amani. for all the political squabbling back and forth, there doesn't seem to be a lot of their there.

you believe one thing or the other, nobody's minds gets changed. >> no, like everything else in washington right now, nobody's minds are being changed. the thing is that -- go back to what these republicans are saying, that soleimani deserve this. by the way, it happened in iraq. he seemed to believe he could move with impunity in iraq, even as he was directing forces to attack american institutions there and installations there. this is probably well-grounded legally for the president to do. the president does have a responsibility to protect americans from imminent attack. certainly in an area like iraq where the united states has been at war and as substantial security presence right now. >> leland: you bring a fascinating point. this is much more of an israeli move. targeted killing of the leadership of the opposition. than a typical american move,

you go bomb a couple training camps and take out some radio towers. these types of punitive but largely proportional measures. verses, "hey, we will take out this revered figure international military organization." does represent a real change in the way american america prosec? >> it changes the way an american president does it. this is a very sort of trump move. he didn't do this precipitously. there've been discussions about doing something like this for a while. he did it after iran was involved in all these provocations. there've been provocations in the past the president had really not reacted very strongly to. exhibited patients about. this is very much a donald trump move to look at the situation. and do something very bold.

last night was filled with predictions of people saying this or that would definitely happen. and the fact is we don't know what's going happen. >> leland: "if i'm a terrorist leader i spent a lot of last night tossing and turning. they probably will for nights to come." byron york, thanks so much. sandra? >> sandra: we will have continuing coverage following the killing of iran's top general. how will they run on the rest of the world respond? plus, devastating wildfires raging across australia, for fog thousands to leave. firefighters are warning situation may only get worse. >> i couldn't defend my home. it's impossible. if the fires came that way, yes. there's no wayor i could actualy keep everybody safe. zicam is completely different. unlike most other cold medicines, zicam is clinically proven to shorten colds. i am a zifan for zicam!

oral or nasal.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> leland: tracking this from australia, one of the largest evacuations in that country's history is underway ahead of worsening weather conditions that are expected to intensify wildfires raging across the country. navy ships have been called in to rescue hundreds of people that were stranded on beaches. >> scariest situation i've ever been in the other night. with him here, i'm his grandma,

so it's really important for us to get them home safe. >> leland: fires burning so hot they are melting fire trucks. the devastating early start to what is the summer wildfire season in the southern hemisphere has made this australia's worst on record with 200 fires. >> sandra: 2020 candidate elizabeth warren releasing her fourth quarter fund-raising numbers, campaign raking in over $124 million of last months. it's putting her fourth among top democratic contenders for money raised during the quarter and down from where she was last quarter. peter doocy's live in dubuque, iowa, with more on all that. just got those numbers a short time ago. a computer >> a, sandra. she is still $30 million behind last quarter's fund-raising leader, bernie sanders. these new numbers also show she raised less last quarter than pete buttigieg and joe biden.

>> i'm deeply grateful to every single person who has contributed to my campaign. i didn't spend one single minute selling access to my time meant to and billionaires. i did this grassroots all across the country. i'm proud of the grassroots army that we are building. >> war and likes to brag that she has taken more than 100,000 selfies with supporters at events, but she hasn't been able to turn a lead and selfies into a lead in fund-raising. the same way joe biden hasn't been able to use his lead in many national polls as a lead in fund-raising, either. >> we have known that bernie sanders already has the biggest crowds so far in iowa this cycle. he's got all this money. is that something that aligns as you? >> no, no. we are competitive with everybody else. we feel good.

thank you. >> after bernie sanders beat joe biden in fund-raising, he piled on a few hours later, telling "the washington post" he thinks joe biden has too much baggage should create the kind of excitement that a democrat would need to match up with president trump. they are both going to be here in iowa today, sandra. speech peter doocy and i will for us this morning. peter, thanks. >> leland: a big issue on the campaign trail, fox news alert from the middle east where iran's supreme leader has vowed retaliation after president trump ordered an air strike that killed his most powerful military commander. >> sandra: meanwhile, secretary of state mike pompeo sharing new videos of iraqis celebrating the killing. what will the u.s. do next? retired four-star general jack keane will join us life.

>> sandra: about 2 minutes into trading on a friday morning after big news last night. stocks are opening lower on the

escalating tensions between the u.s. and iran. you see the dow up 269 points. oil is heading an 8-month high, and gold, safe haven as it has seen, is hitting a four month high. we are watching market reaction for you this morning. that's the dow, 2 minutes into trading. meanwhile, iran going harsh retaliation over the air strike that killed his top military commander, general qassem soleimani. here to talk about all of it is retired four-star general jack keane. he is the chairman of the institute for the study of war and a fox news senior strategic analyst. general, been looking forward to speaking with you this morning. first, what do we need to know is we are all digesting this news this morning? >> well, qassem soleimani represents the execution for the supreme leader. there is no boss over qassem soleimani except the supreme leader of iran. all of the mind and aggressive activity taking place in the middle east and worldwide

terrorism is orchestrated by qassem soleimani. he has more blood on his hands than any other individual that's alive today, as far as i can tell. so what we did here is we took a legal preemptive, defensive measures to disrupt an imminent attack again on u.s. troops. that is within the president's full authority to do. in my judgment, something we could have done many years before because this is a designated terrorist organization that he is a designated terrorist leader. speech general mark esper, the defense secretary, joined us yesterday morning. it was before the attack took place. i hear you talking about legal primitive action. he suggested the options that were on the table yesterday morning. here is some of that. >> i'm not going to telegraph what we are going to do, but people know we have vast inability to do any number of things. we will act in response to

actions by iran or its proxies, and we will act to preempt any attacks on our forces, or personnel by iran or its proxies. >> sandra: that noted a bit of a change from what we had heard after all the action of the embassy. the pentagon this morning responding with this. "this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans. the u.s. will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world. that is a statement by the department of defense. general, how do we do that now, knowing they are vowing retaliation? >> first of all, i think this president has shown enormous restraint. the iranians have been escalating for 18 months in the middle east. they have created crisis of that pressure is put on the united states to stop the sanctions, they've been disrupting oil, they attacked one of the largest oil fields in the world, the persian gulf tankers disruption, et cetera. they shut down the u.s. drone. we did not retaliate.

in fact, after the oil field was attacked, i felt we should have retaliated. but the president showed restraint. he put a red line out there, sandra. he said, "look at it, if you kill americans, i'm going to respond." this president responded. they were about to do it again. soleimani flew in from syria, met his operational commander inside of iraq. he is probably tracking. secretary of defense was very much aware of the intel that we have, he probably was very much aware during your interview, sandra, that we were tracking will haunt us his operational commander. >> sandra: secretary of state mike pompeo was on this morning responding to questions over why president trump proceeded with this action when previous president barack obama did not. here's mike pompeo. >> we took a 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 nuclear weapon. we've taken a very different approach. we believe it's the one that will ultimately lead to success and stability in the middle east. >> sandra: does it lead to and stability? what happens next? >> it's our best chance. we don't know for sure. but the appeasement policy for eight years under the obama administration blew up in his face, because they wanted iran to come to the community of nations and act responsibly. that's with the nuclear deal was all about. what did we get? we got an iranian-led civil war in syria, in iranian-led civil war in yemen, human catastrophe in both of those places, encroaching on the security of israel, and undermining the oil flow out of the middle east. this is what we got. this president looked at all of that and said, "no, we are not continuing down that path." in concert with our allies

strategically, the policy decision was that we are going to confront iran. not with bullets, economically and diplomatically. that's what this president's policy is, and that is what has so frustrated this regime. i believe this is the only path we can get to curbing their aggressive and maligned behavior that's been going on for 40 years. all other attempts have failed. this is the best shot we've got to stop this aggression. speech we only have about a minute or so left. earlier on fox news, he says the president has to convince the ayatollah the oil refineries are at risk. i hear you saying they have to continue to be squeezed economically. how much further can we go? what other tools to be have to do that? >> i don't know about all the firms in iran. the treasury department has oversight of that. i'm sure they are pulling out all the stops to squeeze them as much as we possibly can.

certainly we've got russia and china helping the iranians. i don't think we will have much success there. keep up the maximum pressure campaigns is what we do. what we should be doing. i applaud the president for the restraint that he has exercised to date, and we got to stay focused. by the way, iran as a nation-state has huge resources despite the economic sanctions. they have a worldwide terrorist network and they can strike not only in the region but globally. we've got to look at them through the prism of al qaeda or through isis, but as a nation-state that sponsors terrorism and supports the maligned and aggressive behavior in the region. >> sandra: we will check back in with you soon. general jack keane, we appreciate your time on all of that. >> leland: we will keep watching events in the middle east. back home we are learning more about the man charged in that hanukkah stabbing that happened outside of new york city. police say they previously questioned 37-year-old grafton thomas in november following the stabbing of a jewish man walking

to synagogue. that case remains unsolved. jacqui heinrich, some excellent reporting on this tour of the past couple of days since it happened, joins us now. hi, jacqui. >> hey, we went. they are looking at the suspect vehicle now for any evidence that might still be there. police didn't have enough probable cause to search the car and the case was never solved. it happened november 20th. police say a man walking to synagogue was stabbed and left in the street. when someone found the victim, it first appeared he had been hit by a car. then they found multiple stab wounds. still, investigators hasn't said there's anything definitive linking the two attacks. grafton thomas' case will be heard by a grand jury to grady's facing federal hate crime and attempted murder charges after he say he stabbed five people in an attack at a rabbi's home on hanukkah. among the injured, 72-year-old man still in critical condition. his daughter says doctors are not hopeful he will ever regain consciousness. >> please stand up and stop this

hatred. we want to go to our synagogues and feel safe. not to go to groceries and malls and feel safe. >> investigators say after saturday's attack they found thomas' journals referring to adolf hitler and nazis. his defense claims he's not anti-semitic but develop mental illness after joining the marines, and recently stopped taking prescribed antipsychotics. officials confirm he was removed from the marines just a month after boot camp for fraudulent enlistments. saturday's rampage is one of at least 13 anti-semitic attacks around new york in the last two weeks. wednesday, police arrested two women for allegedly shouting slurs ada hasidic man in brooklyn. one of them allegedly punch him in the throat. >> leland: jacqui, thank you. center? expiate the surprise u.s. air strike that killed top iranian general qassem soleimani. democratic lawmakers slamming the move, that they didn't

consult congress first. >> just as israel has the right to self-defense, the united states has exactly the same rights. it'll ruin your house. so get allstate and be better protected from mayhem, like meow. 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.

so i've been using this awesome new app called rakuten that gives me cash back on everything. that's ebates new name. rakuten, it gets me cash back at tons of stores and i just shop like normal. that's ebates. i've told you fifteen times, we've saved like five hundred dollars last year. rakuten is changing my life, i get cash back on electronics, travel, clothes. you're talking about ebates. look, if you use my referral code you get ten bucks, i get twenty five. this is a pretty good deal to me we should probably- sfx [blender] smoothies ready. awesome. ebates is now rakuten, sign up today and get cash back on everything you buy. it's not getting in my way.? i had enough! joint pain, swelling, tenderness... ...much better. my psoriasis, clearer... cosentyx works on all of this. four years and counting. so watch out. i got this! watch me.

real people with active psoriatic arthritis are feeling real relief with cosentyx. cosentyx is a different kind of targeted biologic. it treats the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis to help you look and feel better. it even helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability... ...to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen... ...or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. i just look and feel better. i got real relief with cosentyx. watch me! feel real relief. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. you don't need to go anywhere dad, this is your home. the best home to be in is your own. home instead offers personalized in-home services for your loved ones. home instead senior care. to us, it's personal.

>> i think the iranian leadership understands president trump will take auction, i hope they will see that and see american resolve and that their decision will be to de-escalate. to take actions consistent with what normal nations do. >> leland: secretary of state mike pompeo doubling down on the administration message to iran after taking of that country's top general, designated a terrorist in 2005. his name is qassem soleimani, responsible for most of tehran's proxy wars throughout the middle east and some of their terror commands as well. with that we bring in jamil jaffer, former doj council, director of the national security law at all different. good to see you, sir, as always. this targeted killing by the united states in this way of a

foreign military commander represents a real change. what about soleimani's background makes this legal, makes this justified? >> the key to soleimani's he's an operational commander. he has his hands on the machine of iran's killing efforts. he led kataib hezbollah, and he is the operational commander of the iran revolutionary guards quds force, there go to arm for. he's operational, that's what makes the killing of him legal here. >> leland: what you make of the tweets from adam schiff, among others, saying congress needed to be consulted? here's the tweet. "soleimani was response will for unthinkable violence in the world's better off without them." there seems to be general agreement about that. "but congress did not authorize the american people who don't want war with iran. steps must be taken to protect

our forces against the almost inevitable a squish and an increased risk." they say it's defensive. does that mean they can do what they want without talking to congress? >> the president can and should consult congress, but there's no question has the authority to take action against an operational leader planning active attacks against americans and has already demonstrated the ability and desire to kill americans, having the blood of over 600 americans on his hands with the kataib hezbollah activities in iraq during the obama administration. >> leland: 600 americans and thousands of civilians, whether it be in syria, whether it be israelis, because of their support of hezbollah, et cetera. speaking of israelis, here is a prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he cut short his trip to greece and is headed back to israel. take a listen. >> soleimani is responsible for the death of american citizens and many other innocent people. he was planning more such attacks. president trump deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully, decisively. israel stands with the

united states and its just a struggle for peace, security, and self-defense. space of the israelis pioneered this idea of targeted killings. in the fast they have had the ability to take s soleimani out, they did not. perhaps it's a thank you. why did the israelis not do it and the u.s. was willing to? >> obviously it's a very provocative move when you take out a senior leader like soleimani. but we have sat around for years and years not taking any action. we had americans killed in iraq, has below attacks on americans around the world. this is an attack long coming, and it was the last straw that broke the camel's back. the president of the right thing taking this action. the point now has to be that we will respond again and we will not take it sitting down. the president needs to be prepared to stand by his attack and keep it going forward if iran does respond. >> leland: "the new york times" reporting that both president bush and president obama, to your point, had not only the opportunity for

the actionable intelligence to take out soleimani. but huge departure from u.s. policy by president trump. as you point out, the put in a defensive structure to justify the changes to congressional rules. thank you very much. appreciate it, sir. >> good to see you. >> sandra: 2020 democratic candidates and the dnc raising more money combined in the last year than the president's reelection machine. is this something the president should be worried about? our a-team is going to take that one up. plus, new scientific developments from google. an ai program now more accurate than a radiologist in detecting breast cancer. what this means for the future of detection. we will have that story with the doctor next. >> the most exciting part of this work is we are able to catch 9% more cancer at screening. also very exciting's are able to reduce the amount of false positives by 5.7%. ) hey there! ) i'm lonnie from lonnie's lumber. if you need lumber wood, lonnie's is better than good.

we got oak, cherry, walnut, and more. and we also have the best selection of plywood (clattering) in the state... hey! (high-pitched laughter) man: dang woodchucks! (wood clattering) stop chuckin' that wood! with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

>> sandra: a google health ai between human radiologists at detecting breast cancer. that's according to a study that tested detection accuracy. researchers found in the technology resulted in fewer false positives, and false negatives, by the way. during this now is dr. manny alvarez, senior managing editor for health news and a fox news contributor.

dr. manny, great to have you this morning. big development? >> i think this is great, dr. google strikes again. this is a new phase of artificial intelligence and medicine which we are going to be seeing more and more of. artificial intelligence is predicated on a lot of good ways to analyze data. digital mammography being one of them now. you said 5% less false positives, which means that women are not getting scared by getting false diagnoses. and false negatives. in other words, picking up more cancers, which is a very good thing. one in five cancers are missed by mammograms. >> sandra: wow. >> the other point is that we don't have enough doctors anymore. for reading and mammography, usually this 22 radiologists. they don't have enough radiologists around the world, especially in the united states, and of course in england. so if you are able to see,

utilize a radiologist, and then back it up with artificial intelligence, it's -- >> kennedy: perhaps not to replace the radiologist. >> i don't think any of this cut technology will ever replace positions. one thing this machine did not have is all the secondary history and physical of the patient. just the facts of the digital mammography. >> sandra: the google health engineer, here he is. how excited they are about the development and what it means for all of us. >> i think we are excited about empowering radiologists with these tools. spell check number meets your life. he wouldn't think about writing an email without spell-check and we hope a doctor wouldn't interpret a mammogram without the use of some ai assistance. speed perfect example for a discussion there. on the false negative results, here's the american cancer society. overall, screening mammograms do not find about one in five breast cancer pointless.

this would ultimately be the solution. >> you are creating a scenario where you have the necessary testing, because of the false-positive reduction. you fix a lot of these problems from a computerized perspective, but at the end of the day breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women in the united states. we have to do something to get better, and of course this artificial technology -- >> sandra: how quickly will hospitals adapt to implement in this technology? >> you will see it within the year, because it has to be integrated into other systems. but i think you will see it pretty soon. >> sandra: fascinating stuff. dr. manny, great to have you here on that this morning. leland? >> leland: incredible stuff there. fox news alert, other side of the break will have more election dominic reaction to the killing of the top run in general. possible retaliation.

our headliner, senator thom tillis, with his next. house member, brad wenstrup, an iraq war veteran, joins us with his elect dominic reaction at 11:30 eastern. >> we don't seek war with iran, but at the same time we won't watch them escalate and continue to put american lives at risk. ef doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa

- in the last year, of cybercrime every second. when a criminal has your personal information, they can do all sorts of things in your name. criminals can use ransomware, spyware, or malware to gain access to information like your name,

your birthday, and even your social security number. - [announcer] that's why norton and lifelock are now part of one company, providing an all in one membership for your cyber safety that gives you identify theft protection, device security, a vpn for online privacy, and more. and if you have an identity theft problem, we'll work to fix it with our million dollar protection package. - there are new cyber threats out there everyday, so protecting yourself isn't a one time job, it's an ongoing need. now is the time to make sure that you have the right plan in place. don't wait. - [announcer] norton 360 with lifelock. use promo code get25 to save 25% off your first year and get a free shredder with annual membership. call now to start your membership or visit lifelock.com/tv

>> sandra: fox news alert, iran vowing "harsh retaliation" after u.s. air strike killed a top run in general.

welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." it's friday morning, i'm sandra smith. >> leland: boy, what a difference the world looks like now versus 24 hours ago. and leland vittert entry bill hemmer. qassem soleimani was the driving force behind many deadly attacks, the blood of hundreds of americans on his hands. now after an air strike near baghdad's airport took him out, the state department is urging u.s. citizens to leave iraq immediately. secretary of state mike pompeo saying iran had fair warning. >> we've made this clear for months, when i was the director we made it very clear that these responses would be swift and decisive. we have now demonstrated that. i hope the iranian leadership will see that, with the american resolve, and that their decision will be to de-escalate. >> sandra: via fox team coverage for you this morning. kevin corke a standby in west palm beach, florida, where president trump has been spending the holidays. we begin with rich edson, live at the state department with the latest. hey, rich, good morning. >> good morning summa do not, center. for decades, qassem soleimani

led the foreign and military intelligence operations from the region. secretary mike pompeo said the u.s. detected an imminent threat from soleimani and actin. >> the risk of doing nothing was enormous. enormous and the short term in terms of the imminent attacks that qassem soleimani was plotting, but also highly risky. doing nothing in this region shows weakness. it emboldens iran. >> in april the administration classify the islamic revolutionary guard corps and its quds force as a foreign terrorist organization. it's the first time the u.s. has labeled the arm of a foreign government as a terrorist organization, and has now killed its leader. after the 2003 u.s. invasion of iraq, the pentagon says iran-backed militants were responsible for killing more than 600 american troops. iran has called the strike "rogue adventurism," and president basson ronnie treated , "the fight against terrorism and extremism in the region will

be raised. passive resistance of u.s. excesses will continue. the great nation of iran will take revenge for this heinous crime." the u.s. has a military presence across the region, as is iran. now the state department is warning anyone in iraq, and the american and iraq, to leave the country. tweeting, "do you heighten tensions in iraq and the region, weird u.s. citizens to depart iraq immediately. you two iranian-backed attacks at the u.s. embassy compound, all counselor operations are suspended. u.s. citizens should not approach the embassy." but the stark warning for americans to avoid traveling to iraq in the first place. >> sandra: rich, thanks. >> leland: we are told president trump or to the air strike that killed iran's most powerful general, marking a new phase in the growing showdown between washington and tehran. kevin corke in west palm beach, florida, where the president has

been spending the holidays. i'm not, kevin. >> good morning. we don't anticipate seeing the president before his event in miami this afternoon. in the meantime, his twitter feed remains the best place to get immediate reaction. let me take you there and tell you what his thoughts have been this morning about the death of qassem soleimani. he said "general qassem soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more but got caught. he was directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions of people, including the recent large number of protesters killed in iran itself. while iran will never be able to properly admit it, soleimani was both hated and feared within the country. they are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believes. he should have been taken out many years ago." that, from president trump. and taken out he was, killed by a u.s. drone strike. widespread reaction to the elimination of the man u.s. officials say was planning to

attack american interests. this, from the foreign secretary of the u.k. "we have always recognize the aggressive threats posed by the iranian quds force led by qassem soleimani. following his death, we urge all parties to de-escalate further conflict. it's in none of our interests." zarif sings on twitter, "the active tourism targeting and assassinating general soleimani, the most effective force of infighting, is extremely dangerous. a foolish escalation. the u.s. bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism." they have also been widespread demonstrations in honor of general soleimani. also celebrating his death. they say he's a terrorist who posed an imminent threat to the u.s. >> what was sitting before us was his travels throughout the region, has efforts to make a significant strike against

americans. they would have been many muslims killed, as well. iraqis and people and other countries, as well. it's a strike aimed at both distracting dot plot, deterring further aggression. >> an evangelical event for the president this afternoon at the largest hispanic evangelical community. we'll have that for you. if we get anymore reaction on twitter or elsewhere, i promise to pass along. for now, back to you. >> leland: we will wait for that. thanks so much. >> sandra: let's bring in the former manager for the reagan-bush ticket in 1984 and a fox news contributor. good morning dan ettinge senator welcomes all three of you this morning on a breaking news morning. what is "the wall street journal" saying about all this this morning? speak of the general was think is justified, certainly. that soleimani has the blood of hundreds if not thousands of americans on his hands, and that they were continuing to lament

terrorism in the middle east. there in mind that iran via soleimani was probably the primary source of instability across the region. supporting the huthis in yemen, primary source of assad in syria, hezbollah in lebanon and no in iraq as well. they were responsible shooting back at the iraqi protesters in baghdad, protest and corruption in their own government. taking out soleimani takes out a primary source of instability in the region. i think all of those players are now going to reset and redefined their relationship now that they see that the united states is committed to pushing back against the iranians. not really with sanctions, but here with i would say the ultimate sanction against the head of the quds force. >> sandra: the creeks are out in full force, but joe biden, presidential candidate, saying president trump tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox. >> the bottom line is the president showed a lot of great

strength. the megan don't like reagan is measured in 40 years ago, jimmy carter lost the presidency because it' of his mishandling f situation. ronald reagan developed a strong presidency by showing great strength. i think this is the most consequential. this would be the most consequential decisions this president made, no matter where it goes from here. i think democrats are foolish if they are going to continue on this impeachment process, the impeachment role the trade to advocate for the last several years. this is an unsafe world and this shows great strength. speed to that point, it certainly highlights foreign policy in the election year. >> consequential for sure. the question is what the consequences will be. what's disturbing about this, nobody questions that soleimani is a bad guy. a lot of bad guys around the world our response will for all kinds of horrible attacks against americans. we don't take them a lot. we don't take them all out without consideration and the involvement of allies, without notifying members of the senate and house intelligence committees. which apparently is present did

not do. we don't do that because the consequent as when we take unilateral action are so vast. there's no evidence. no evidence from the initiation or anywhere else that taking them out was a deterrent in any way. i do understand that showing force could theoretically be a deterrent, but in fact, we've seen in the middle east in the past when we showed extreme poor force, that it's recruiting for terrorists. >> leland: this is a page out of the israeli playbook. you kill their commanders come i don't take out their training camps. here's benjamin netanyahu on the tarmac, who noteworthy cut short his trip to greece to get back to israel in case there is retaliation. take a listen. >> qassem soleimani is responsible for the death of american citizens and many other innocent people. he was planning more such attacks. president trump deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully, decisively. israel stands with the

united states and its just struggle for peace, security, and self-defense. >> leland: what is not said there is the israelis have been tracking this guy for years, sponsoring terrorist attacks against israel, decided to not take them up because of the potential cost. president bush and president obama also decided not to. how big of a gamble is this for president trump to flip those decisions connect >> it's a bit of a gamble but a necessary gamble. soleimani, they had attacked last week, because they had carried out an attack on u.s. forces over there. then they attacked the embassy. the pentagon is saying they believe that soleimani was going to carry out further attacks. the iranians have been not the least bit reluctant to carry out terrorism against americans and europeans. so i don't think the gamble was so big that you're not worried about that kind of attack in the future. >> leland: history doesn't necessarily repeat itself, but it rhymes. to go back to when they went into their hole, back to praying

mantis, when they sunk a third of the needy. is this punching the nose of the schoolyard bully or is there something needed as a follow-up? >> the decision they made, i served in two white houses at the top level so i know what kind of decisions the president makes. when you make a decision like this, it's not going to come off the golf course and say, "let's go ban them today." it's a significant decision, the parent has with all the options. it's not a one-shot deal. they know their other consequent is that will, they are anticipating all of those. they've not been irresponsible up to this point. >> one critical thing, remember, we did this once before. we assassinated the leader of japanese navy. that basically demoralize the japanese and it was the beginning of the end of that war. my sense today is that we basically have shown we are not going to tolerate this terrorism. he'll continue like this, until we find these guys and get them. >> sandra: what you will hear more of them coming days is the point lauren brought up. when you look at the partisan

nature of what just happened. this is a top democrat, chris murphy. he had the same question about congressional authorization. and suppose he put a nancy pelosi porto statement page he talked to mark esper. here is chris murphy for us and we will talk. i'm sorry, i will read the quote. "soleimani was an enemy of the audit states. that's not a question. the question is this. as report suggests, did america assess and it without any congressional authorization? the second most powerful person in iran, knowing we set off a potential massive regional war?" to you, dan, on that. >> this i is a defining politicl event. it looks like you will not find a single democrat who is going to say, "i support with the president did." they are all saying, "yes, he was a bad guy, but we worry about the consequent despair he wouldn't have gone there." it's like barack obama's line in the sand in syria.

the democrats just don't do military action under any circumstances anymore. whereas the republicans are supporting the president on this, and i think the american people themselves were simply have to make up her mind, whether they are in favor of what donald trump did against soleimani or if they're going to take the democratic side, which is that we just don't go there anymore. >> that's incredibly unfair. the fact is democrats are not given an opportunity to weigh in on this. if there was such compelling evidence that there was an imminent threat against our interests, that intelligence should have been shared. >> how can you carry out a surprise attack under the circumstances? >> mark esper and mike pompeo haven't agreed with the motivations were. they put out conflicting statement in the last one he for hours. the president has made no public statement, no effort to talk to the american people about the rationale for this. if you think americans are going to support having thousands of our troops now interphone harm's way all over the world, without reasonable and meaningful exclusion to the reagan people and -- >> the congress has given up the

opportunity to be briefed in advance over the leaks that have occurred over the last year. and the patient process going on today. if you think any president, democrat or republican, would go to congress and give the plans -- >> noteworthy for president obama to take up with some above latin, there is not notification. they didn't get the proof of there. in of how the defense secretary is looking at this, he was on with us yesterday. just about this time. as you go back and watch this interview, he sort of telegraphs this and we missed it. take a listen. >> my crystal ball doesn't work that well, but i would say that we will continue to reinforce our presence from a military perspective in the region, to protect our personnel, whether they are diplomats or american citizens or military personnel. we will ensure the readiness of our forces again throughout the region to either respond or preempt any type of attacks on u.s. forces.

>> leland: so is that, down, now the new line from this administration? in the sense that they didn't do anything when iran shut down the drone, they didn't do anything when they hit the oil facilities in saudi arabia. you kill an american, we take out your top general. >> for the for short term, i thk that is. longer-term, we have this confrontation going on with iran. i think with the president should do, i think lauren's right of the president needs to speak to the american people now and explain what the rationale was behind this. just to reassure them. secondly, it would make sense as well her president trump to offer the iranians khamenei and rouhani. "you understand what our terms art, it's time to sit down and negotiate serially about an end game." >> leland: they allude to that, right? >> where's the evidence that the readings would be responsive to

that? you have to understand the dynamics of the ground in a country like iran, which has a national pride issue. we have just taken out a revered national figure. the idea that somehow now that will motivate them to come to the table with an offer of peace or negotiation is ridiculous. this is what motivates them to potentially strike our interests, and -- >> sandra: final thought? >> we try to buy them off, it got nowhere. they violated every agreement they've ever come to. we don't even have a negotiating tool to negotiate with them. my sense at this point in time, this president made a deliberate decision after a lot of thought that i'm sure has gone on in the pentagon. these are the options, he took the toughest option there was. >> sandra: thanks to all of us for joining this morning. meanwhile, secretary of state mike pompeo, as you mention, tweeting out this video showing iraqis celebrating the killing of general soleimani. here at home, split reaction as we are discussing among lawmakers. >> leland: for sure. senator thom tillis of the armed services committee is our headliner. he will weigh in on the response from capitol hill, and whether

or not congress should have been notified coming about 10:30. >> an imminent attack, they orchestrated a primary motivator for the attack was qassem soleimani. attempt to disrupt that plot. you've been talking this morning about the history of who he is. his goblet blood on his hands. w newday's proud to announce their fastest and easiest refi ever. one call can save you $2000 a year. pq1drxáiú8àp6 of course i'd love to take an informal poll. i used to be a little cranky. dealing with our finances really haunted me. thankfully, i got quickbooks,

and a live bookkeeper's helping customize it for our business. (live bookkeeper) you're all set up! (janine) great! hey! you got the burnt marshmallow out! (delivery man) he slimed me. (janine) tissue? (vo) get set up right with a live bookkeeper with intuit quickbooks. the easy way to a happier business.

>> sandra: fox news alert, new reaction from president trump following the death of iranian general qassem soleimani. the present tweeting this. "the united states has paid iraq billions of dollars a year for many years, that's on top of all else we have done for them. the people of iraq do not want to be dominated and controlled by iran, but ultimately that is their choice. over the last 15 years, iran has gained more and more control over iraq. and the people of iraq are not

happy with that." it will never end." for more, we will bring in our 18. a quick look at the dow, a 38-point loss overnight, i believe future sunk more than 400 points. off the lows of the session, still a market reaction to all this. oil prices are spiking, gold considered a safe haven. it's also up in today's session. the dow for now off its lows, as we watch the economic market impact. dan, to you first on that. certainly a reaction but not quite as severe as we saw overnight. >> that's what markets are for, to react short-term. that's what is suggested. there are downdrafts here after all this. i think it'll take a while for the markets not only to start out before the release itself to sort out. everyone over there is resetting in the wake of the killing of soleimani. it's going to take a while before we actually understand where the players are lining up now, in all of those countries over there. >> we've never had a situation like this where we are on the

verge of a potential war in the middle east, certainly one that we've played a critical rule income and still have an impeachment going on. the absurdity of the patient will become more and more clear in the dim pretzel plate don't i pay a price for. >> global insecurity is terrible for the american economy, terrible for markets. we have to watch this and say >> down, back to the markets right now. marketed security, president trump loves the going up to me talk about it over the time. from our gillian turner, who says the iran regime is considering options for cyber packs targeting u.s. interests. this come up or multiple national security sources. the question, if all of a sudden there is a cyber attack that targets u.s. companies, the markets, et cetera, does that present a larger challenge for

president trump, the economy, and reelection? >> it would present a challenge, for sure. but i'm not sure i really credit all of this iranian threat playlist that is going on right now. this is always what they do. remember the virus that we have the israelis used to take down the iranian nuclear program? cyber capabilities, if you want to go there, are much stronger . i think there's a lot of showboating going on by the iranians. what else are we supposed to do? the head of the quds force which is assassinated. >> leland: they can't really say, "sorry, you got us come and i we will retreat." >> exactly. over the next week a lot of this will have to sort itself out. people will have to stand back and figure out whether you're an ally of the united states were an enemy of the united states in that region. >> sandra: this isn't even a severe reaction in the markets, considering uncertainty this does bring over what happens next. lindsey graham was on fox earlier this morning saying that this happened, he supports with the president has done, but now the u.s. must act quickly.

his message to the president was that he has to convince the i toil the don'the i told her that the oil refineries are li list. >> we are the strong position in the world to this point in time. on all fronts. economically, cyber komodo's you want to do. strong's military. the president is willing to use those resources to bring terrorism to a halt and defend americans. democrats may argue with different perspectives, but i think the first time that the iranians to something like this will put serious consequences on a very weakened economy when we have a very strong economy. >> the fact is that in today's world it's not just about the state response, it's about terrorist cells that are sleeping and potentially recruiting now. i think we will see consequences in just those next week or two. consequences for years to come, as we've seen with virtually every other conflict we've ever been engaged in in the middle east. think we will get in and out in

a short period of time, ten, 15, 20 years later we're still dealing with the consequences. see seven you make a good point. at his direction, it's been around the world. whether it's argentina, israel, plant tax and united states. real quickly, as we get to the issue of how the 2020 candidates are looking at this, they are having to agree that to a money was a terrible person. the only thing they can kind of do is nibble around the edges. is that put them in a difficult position? >> for the democrats, it does. they have to decide -- they will be looking at their base. these democratic candidates are going to democratic primaries, and other general election. the people voting most primaries are on the democratic left. they would oppose military action over there. joe biden, on the one hand, was supporting the fact that we've got soleimani but that it was a provocative act to me if you be very careful. they will pull back from supporting any sort of food military action in the

middle east. that defines the democrats right now. i think it's true because of who their voters are. >> sandra: i should explain the full screen we had up a second ago, that was the democrats dnc fund-raising, the war chests, for democrats in the dnc. to the trump campaign, that's combined with the candidates. his campaign is $402 million. good positioning for the president? >> both parties have all the money you need. money is not the issue. the issue is what is the message? will the be the traditional elizabeth warren, bernie sanders antiwar type message? or that america has to be strong, which will be the trump message? >> i think it's not quite as black-and-white as that. nobody is disputing that this guy was a bad actor. the bet don't my question is, is there a plan? on the left there is extremely high levels of distrust of the president. the idea that democrats would somehow then trust his judgment on the world stage in such a consequential matter, went on so many other issues he has proven that he can't be trusted with the truth, all kinds of other

issues the democrats have been hitting on for months and months. this is an extremely complicated issue. i think it does in fact help the democrats. i do not see the american people and mass giving by this massive escalation of a potentially unwinnable war in the middle east. >> sandra: that's our 18 this morning. appreciate it, thank you to all of you. >> leland: a lot of topics on this, much more with our next headliner. the u.s. taking out a top iranian general. north carolina senator thom tillis, there he is. he's on the other side of the break. we will bely with you in a seco, sir. ady buying. sometimes it's 3% sometimes it's 8% but you're always getting cashback. so it's like getting free money. go to rakuten.com and sign up today for a $10 bonus.

it's not getting in my way.? i had enough! joint pain, swelling, tenderness... ...much better. my psoriasis, clearer... cosentyx works on all of this. four years and counting. so watch out. i got this! watch me. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are feeling real relief with cosentyx. cosentyx is a different kind of targeted biologic. it treats the multiple symptoms of psoriatic

arthritis to help you look and feel better. it even helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability... ...to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen... ...or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. i just look and feel better. i got real relief with cosentyx. watch me! feel real relief. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx.

>> doing nothing in this region shows weakness, it emboldens iran. would have been under the administration where they felt free to conduct hundreds of tax. speed that was secretary of state mike pompeo on "fox & friends" early this morning, defending president trump's decision to take up top iranian general qassem soleimani. some democratic lawmakers are out this morning slamming the

move, because the president did not consult with congress first. running is now is our headliner, republican senator thom tillis of north carolina. he served on the senate armed services committee. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> sandra: , first your reaction to the death of qassem soleimani? >> i think you've taken out a top terrorist. the somebody who has done iran's bidding across the world. he is responsible for hundreds of american lives and lives of others fighting for freedom in the region. i appreciate the president to resolve and i think it's appropriate action. >> don't don't like speed to questions about whether they needed congressional approval to take this action. what is the case they are and to the president make the right move >> i think he did. i think secretary pompeo at all the advisors in the intelligence community, they have the right information. they have the right location, the right target. i have no doubt they've examined

the presidential authorities. acted appropriately. about not consulting congress before this action, this is a highly sensitive action that had to be closely held. in the same way that previous attacks on terrorist leaders have been executed. >> leland: go back to even neptune's beer, president obama 's order against usama bin laden was not convinced notice. this begs up an interesting question. after the bin laden raid we heard that al qaeda would retaliate retaliate, et cetera, et cetera. this argument on the oversight of that, senator, that the world is a sacred place when the schoolyard bullies aren't allowed to run amok? >> i think soleimani being able to do what he did for 20 years as a testament to the fact he needed to be taken out. this is a country, the top state sponsor of terror in the world. hundreds of millions of dollars going to terrorist organizations across the globe, including our hemisphere. he was at the front of it. he's been at the front of the

latest attacks on, i believe, the american embassy in baghdad. keep in mind that this strike was only about 15 miles away from the american embassy in baghdad. how could anyone think that soleimani was going over there to make peace? he was going there to orchestrate the next wave of violence in iraq, putting american men and women at risk. >> sandra: 's now iran is roped on my growing revenge, harsh retaliation how does the united states need to respond and how do we protect the american people? >> we have to respond definitively. keep in mind, they've had maritime attacks in the gulf of oman, maritime attacks in the persian gulf, they attacked an arabian oil field. we've been very patient in dealing with iran's acts of aggression. when you have the top -- a designated terrorist, the top leader of terrorists exploded from iran, and you have the opportunity to take him out in iraq, 15 miles away from the u.s. embassy? i think it was an appropriate

action. the iranian government needs to understand that at some point we have to say enough is enough. we have seen a number of attacks, and america has had a very measured response. but when you send your top terrorist for your country -- basically the deputy foreign minister -- into iraq and think that's going to stand? i think the president proved it's not going to come and he made the right decision. >> leland: it's interesting you bring up how this was done. the reporting out there is of the united states could have taken them out for years george bush could have taken them out, president obama could have taken him out. he flew around with impunity. private planes come in and out of syria, next military aircraft, et cetera. what seems to have changed all this is the point that he was there to organize new attacks against the united states. do you wonder if and when the united states -- meaning the president and his team -- need to share a little more about the

outcome of their intelligence? >> i think the one thing we need to keep in mind, none of these -- none of the u.s. reactions have been offensive. they have more or less been defensive. if you take a look at the missile strikes last week in iraq, that resulted in the strikes that the u.s. executed last week. what we are trying to do is to de-escalate the tensions in the region. at some point, when iran continues to poke around the perimeter and test are resolved, there has to be a consequent sport. that's what we saw last night. >> sandra: 's nancy pelosi is put on her own cement directives their strikes. that it's provoking further dangerous escalation. that we can't afford to have tensions escalate to the point of no return. but congress must be immediately briefed on the serious situation and the next steps under consideration by the administration. how do you expect that coordination between the white house and congress to look in the hours and days to come? >> let's go back to that

statement. when nancy pelosi is saying, that soleimani was within the 15 minute cab ride to the american embassy after orchestrated attacks last week of our embassy that were clearly coordinated by iran, she's okay with that? the president made that area safer by taking out someone who i have no doubt was working with his proxies in the area for the next wave of attacks on u.s. interests. it's very difficult on the one hand for her to attack the president's actions and then say she wants to be involved in the execution of the strategy. if she wants to come to the table and do what she can do to make american men and women safer in the region, i think the president would welcome her to that table. but taking this political position is not very productive, and it's not something that, if i were present, it would make me feel comfortable having her engage in the details of these very sensitive missions.

speeds there is a delicate nature of how we perceive and the hours and days to come. going back to lindsey graham's comment this morning, he called into fox news talking about needing to send a message about the oilfields being at risk for iran. what is that message need to be and how to rebalance the message of retaliation of iran and strength on the part of the united states? >> i think the president is always going to -- and his administration advises a proportionate response. if iran makes the mistake of attacking u.s. interests or the interests of our allies, they should expect a proportionate response. i hope it doesn't get to that. i hope iran recognizes that we respect their borders, but we do not respect when they go outside of their borders and put men and women at risk who are trying to stabilize the region. it also protect our ally, israel. >> leland: senator, isn't this the disproportionate response to make the punch in the nose to the bully on the playground? >> i don't agree with that. if you take a look at where soleimani has been, syria and

various parts of iraq, orchestrating terror around the world, this is not about any one incident. this is about 20 years of terror under soleimani's watch. less that he was held accountable, and i think it pery so. >> sandra: what your fears for his terrorism and our talk of cyber attacks, senator? >> iran has a very sophisticated cyber capability, and so does the united states. so the response, whether it's on any interest in the middle east or in the cyber domain, it needs to be definitive and appropriate. i believe this president will take action if he sees and can very clearly attributed to iranian interest or surrogates or proxies. >> sandra: senator thom tillis joining us on this breaking incident overnight, learned of the death of qassem soleimani. we appreciate coming this morning, thank you. >> leland: thank you, sir. the death of the top iranian

military commander has echoed around the world. we will look into a little bit more about who this man was who oversaw tehran's elite quds force for decades, and some of the attacks he's been involved in in the past. here's record-breaking news for veterans. va mortgage rates have dropped to near 50-year lows. newday usa can help you refinance your mortgage and save thousands a year. newday's va streamline refi makes it fast and easy because there's no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. i urge you to call newday usa now.

0the sleep number 360 smart bed. prices of the season on hpo, can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. it's the final days of the lowest prices of the season. the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is $1299. ends sunday our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition...

for strength and energy! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein and twenty-seven vitamins and minerals. ensure, for strength and energy.

>> sandra: long-simmering tensions with tehran reaching a whole new level as iran's president vows revenge after u.s. air strike kills a iranian general. walid phares is a fox news foreign affairs analyst entrances now. walid, good morning to you. thank you for being here this morning. we have spoken together a lot leading up to these events. your thoughts, know that it has happened? >> let me begin with the end of the analysis, and we will work it up the other way around. this is not a u.s. war against iran. many are talking about in washington, it would look different. what is happening now is a u.s. counterterrorism operation against the iranian network known as the quds force. which has been at war for the

last weeks nab months. yes, there is a history of qassem soleimani taking action against u.s. interests. diplomats, military. he goes back to 2003. the action of yesterday is not linked to that. it's basically because he and his organization and his allies were preparing a campaign, targeting our forces, diplomats, and other u.s. citizens. it's very limited in scope. at the end of the day, depends on tehran. if they want to escalate, if they want to respond and bring that were closer to them, that is their decision. it's not washington's. >> leland: this is an interesting point, because the general consensus, as you pointed out, walid, that we are on the verge of another war. that we appear to be entering into another middle east war. but history may tell us a different story. back in the 1980s when president reagan sank a third of the iranian navy in operation praying mantis, the iranians went back into their hole for

the next decade and said they would wait and play another day. would it suggest maybe a cyber attack you are there, budget parades, bunch of chance of "death to america," and the message that they don't want to pay the cost of the next escalation? >> first, many of the analysts do not understand how the islamic republic of iran functions pair they have not understood this since 1979. that's one point. the second point, basically, is that iran knows that if it's going to engage in warfare against us, it will have to move troops into iraq. that is something they don't want to do. they don't have the technology to preempt on us. so they don't want war. they are trying to do, though strikes against us, to force us to make one decision. which is to remove ourselves from iraq so that they can handle the uprising. in my view, my humble view, i

think the uprising is what is more dangerous to them than our forces. they are concerned that there is a people in iraq going and burning their militia. there are people in iran itself who are shaken up by the regime. they are trying to make war with us so that they can go back and repress their own population. it would not work -- >> leland: soleimani was an interesting figure in iran. the folk hero almost like patton was in terms of being a military leader. politically, very in tune, answered only to the ayatollah. there was this from "the new york times" today. "soleimani was treated like royalty and was not particularly hard to find." a former cia operations officer said this. "soleimani felt untouchable, particularly in iraq. he took selfies of himself on the battlefield and openly taunted the u.s. because he felt safe in doing so." does this targeted killing -- which is what it was -- change

the dynamics for not only your 2-bit terrorists but you are terror leaders and even your boss cite government officials of terrorist countries? >> let me try to rectify the description. it's true, he was very relaxed with his entourage, took selfies. it's well known in the middle east. but with the analysts are not realizing his when he walked he had about 100 to 200 bodyguards around him. any space you walk through to do these photo ops, video ops, were secured. it's not that he went into unsecured areas. he never met with the demonstrators, unarmed demonstrators of iran. yes, i agree with the second point. from now on, quds force or other iranian terror organization entities, they are going to be extremely careful about how they move because of this high tech that the united states has. which has not been there for the last decade. >> sandra: to walid, i want to finish with a tweet from the president today. from president trump at 9:00 eastern time, less than two hours ago.

"general qassem soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of americans over an extended period of time, and the general has killed or badly wounded thousands of americans over an extended period of time was plotting to kill many more become caught. he was directly and indirectly response will for the death of modes of people, including the recent large number. was plotting to kill many more but got caught. >> he was both hates the truth of the country. they're not nearly as silent as the with outside will believe. he should have been taken out many years ago." the president's point about the timing, knowing good intelligence we had no and that we had then, why now and not in the past? >> his blood he resumes very long. against the united states but also the iraqis. we forgot about the syrians, half a million killed, thousands

killed by his troops. i'm assuming the decision to take him out yesterday in that fashion had to do with an operational information but he was about organizer he was organizing a campaign against us, which would have cost a lot of american blood and ally blo blood. >> sandra: walid phares, appreciate your time this morning, thank you. >> leland: there's other news this morning out o out of the tp administration. accuser making it harder for asylum-seekers to attend their court hearings. we are going to tell you about the new policy of the criticisms. where's the truck? what? parked it right there. male voice: what did i tell you, boys? tonight we eat like kings! (chuckling) you're a genius, gordon! brake! hit the brake! uh, which one's the brake? (crash, bottles smashing) stop! stop! sto-o-op! (brakes squealing) what's happening? what? there's a half of cheesesteak back there. with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more

on car insurance. raccoon: i got the cheesesteak!

>> leland: still watching news out of the middle east, but the trump administration is now giving an update on its remain in mexico program, saying it's begun sending some asylum-seekers to await immigration hearings. william la jeunesse following this, and what it means from our west coast newsroom. >> leland, they are calling this none cruel. this hardship strategy is working. border apprehensions are falling like a rock. the administration thursday expanded this remain in mexico program for the first time in arizona. here's why this is news. till now, asylum-seekers who crossed into arizona, the border patrol would transport at taxpayer expense over to

el paso, then over the border to juarez too weak to their court date bakken l paso back in el paso. men don't like me now, that was sent to nogales, mexico. but their court date remains in el paso. requiring the migrant, at their expense, to travel 370 miles to court. advocates call it dangerous and divided leeson of rates. with the bjork don't like border patrol says change allows agents to get to their job of enforcement instead of playing taxi driver, and the hardship is a deterrent to others. illegal traffic is down dramatically. at this point the aclu is challenging the policy, but this is a big change. >> sandra: reaction still pouring at home and abroad after an air start killing of the iranian top military commander. we will have new details and fallout, top of the hour.

[ gunshot ] [ multiple gunshots ] [ orchestral music playing ] i want to tell as many veterans near ras possible about newday's va streamline refi. it's the closest thing to automatic savings that we've ever offered. at newday, veterans can refinance their mortgage with no income verification, no appraisal and no out of pocket expenses. and we've extended our call center hours so that every veteran can take advantage of these near record low rates.

>> sandra: fox news alert, u.s. air strikes of the direction of president trump killing top remain commander. tehran vowing harsh retaliation against united states. welcome to bring the hour of "america's newsroom." it's friday morning. good morning, i'm sandra smith. >> leland: a very different friday that it was thursday in this world, especially in the middle east. i'm leland vittert in for bill helmer. nancy pelosi slimming the president for ordering the attack without consulting congress. this comes after writer stormed the usmc in baghdad this week. officials say those attacks were orchestrated by iran. president trump then deployed hundreds of u.s. troops to the middle east to counter those violent demonstrations. he was secretary of state mike pompeo on "fox & friends" this morning. >> 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 and other people in other countries, as well. it was aimed at was disrupting that plot and deterring further aggression. hope setting the conditions for de-escalation, as well. speech that was secretary pompeo. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with the latest from their pay jennifer, good morning. >> good morning, sandra. in chess terms, the u.s. military just took out iran's queen. soleimani was the second most powerful leader, serving as the right hand to ayatollah khamenei. he was response will for exporting the iranian revolution for the past 40 years. soleimani had become a fixture in baghdad, making a number of recent trips to baghdad in recent months. this time of the u.s. military was waiting. u.s. officials tell me they had eyes on soleimani as he flew from lebanon to iraq, and armed american drone waiting overhead as he exited the plane and his

convoy prepared to leave the airport compound. he was greeted by the head of the iraqi shiite militia, which led the attack on the u.s. embassy this week, and in my exit interview with the chief who don't not, he about soleimani preventing the use of explosive penetrator slicing through american armor with devastating effect. >> he's the one who's been exporting activities throughout the middle east through some time now. he's responsible for killing many americans. the last two there's atomic years i was there, the majority of casualties came from his circuits. not sunni or al qaeda. >> the commander wasn't just to fit in the middle east. in 2011, he ordered the assassination of saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states outside a popular door chime restaurant right here in washington, d.c. that plot was disrupted.

in july 2015, 10 days after the iranian nuclear deal was announced in vienna, we just reported he traveled to moscow to meet vladimir putin, and other top russian officials, in breach of u.n. sanctions. this was the beginning of a massive deployment of russian and iranian forces to syria to shore up the assad regime. the parliament is holding an emergency session saturday, calling for all u.s. troops to leave. speaking jennifer griffin at the pentagon. let's bring in fox news sunday anchor chris wallace. good morning, welcome. here we are with a much different day than where we were this time yesterday. so your thoughts so far? we are hearing? a lot of a lot of back-and-forth already happening by members of congress. >> yeah, look, nobody in this town will shed a tear about the death of qassem soleimani. he was a bad guy, as jennifer mentioned. he also saw the clip from general odierno, he had the blood of hundreds of american

soldiers, men and women, on his hands. he played a very maligned role throughout the middle east, spreading iranian authority, influence, across the region. the question is what happens next. that concern some people here, because both president obama and president bush have the options at various points to take out soleimani and they decided, as much as they hated him, not to o so because they were worried hope the iranians would respond to that. that is the concern. they talked about harsh retaliation, what form will not take? will there be military strikes, terror attacks? iran has a very sophisticated cyber capability. could they be cyber attacks on the u.s. homeland? if this is the kind of strike that finally gets tehran's attention and they pulled back, that's a great message for the u.s. on the other hand, if they simply escalate and respond to

our escalation with another one of their own, people will have to decide how long we want to take this. >> sandra: the president getting a lot of support, but you don't have to look far to see democrats critical of it, including nancy pelosi, leader of her party in the house. "it risks for the exclusion of violence," she writes in a statement. "america and the world cannot afford to have escalations to the point of no return." including the significant escalation of the deployment of additional troops to the region." our point is concerned about further escalation, she also shares concern about not getting a congressional notification of this was taking place. adam schiff, i will spare you the tweet, takes on a very similar response. but then there are those who are polluted, curry politico with this. ilhan omar, another member of congress. she writes, "so what if trump wants war, knows this leads to war, and needs the distraction? will question is, will those wih

congressional authority step in and stop and? i know i will." she's making the point that the president did this to distract? >> well, yeah. i guess he is. i hadn't seen that tweet. but that is something we heard. we heard with bill clinton, if you remember, in the middle of his impeachment struggle there was a wag the dog. it was a fairly popular movie back at that time in the late about 390s, that suggested the president might take military action to distract from his political problems. i don't think there's any sign of that whatsoever. it's a dramatic escalation this week with the killing of an american contractor and a missile strike, the u.s. took out about two dozen iranian-backed militia. they responded with the attack on the embassy. this wasn't imagined, this really happen. as far as the war powers act is concerned, i've been in this town ever since that act was passed. i think 40 years ago or so.

congresses of both political parties have criticized presence of both political parties for taking unilateral military action. they never do anything about it, so i suspect you will see this congress huffing and puffing. they should be able to authorize that use of military force, but they won't do anything about it because they don't want to take the responsibility, as i say, i've seen this with congresses in both parties to presidents of both parties. >> sandra: secretary of state mike pompeo was on fox earlier, he responded to that. whether or not the president has legal authority to make that move. here's how he responded. >> we shouldn't forget, general soleimani, military commander. the military commander actively engaged in plotting to kill americans in the region. we had an important set of underlying reasons to take the strike. it was wholly lawful and we are confident we got it right legally and strategically. >> sandra: we are going to see a lot of reaction in the hours and days to come, chris. i want to move on to some of the political atmosphere right now,

as we are now fully engaged in the election year. some of the campaign fund-raising numbers are out there. the war chest, if you will. the trump campaign, $46 million in the fourth quarter. that's a lot of money, and you look at the combined raised by the democratic candidates, and you wonder what position this puts the trump camp in. his communication's director had a bit to say about it. here's kim are .>> the money we are talking about, this is not even to counter with the rnc has raised, as well. when those numbers come out for the fourth cater to him you will see a jaw-dropping number. sandra: referencing the cash on hand. chris? >> i've seen studies by political scientists sing the single biggest predictor of whether a president, an incumbent president, gets reelected as weather he faces a primary fight. donald trump, yes, there are a couple of people running, but not seriously.

he will run unopposed for the republican nomination. he's building up the war chest, as tim suggested. he's also going to have the rnc. not just for him, they will also spend money to try and hold onto the senate and begin the house. but not having a primary opponent while the democrats either are spending all of the tremendous amount of money they're raising fighting each other and cutting each other up, that hasn't really begun in earnest yet. it's going to give him a huge advantage at the end of the primary season, come late spring, early summer. having said that, the passion against trump -- and is obviously tremendous passion and support for the present, but also a lot of passion against him -- i don't think money will be a determining factor here. whoever is the republican -- the democratic nominee will have plenty of money to raise a legitimate campaign against the president. so you'd rather be in the president's position then one of these democratic candidates. but i suspect they will have the

money on the resources to wage a campaign against the president come the fall. >> sandra: some of that support the president continues to get us from the evangelical vote. this is fox news pulling on the president's job performance with white evangelicals. approval rating at 67%. he is going to work to keep that support and possibly build on it, chris. he's heading to miami a bit later today to a bilingual congregation at a mega-church, part of his evangelical for trump rollout. he wants to keep that support. i wonder if you could tell us how important that voting block is for trump in 2020. >> we talk about the trump base. this is the heart. christian evangelicals is the heart of the trump base. according to the exit polls in 2016, the race trump against clinton, voters identified themselves as evangelicals and he won that vote against hillary clinton. i think it was something like 80% to 20%. there was a threat, because you

saw the "christianity today" editorial a couple weeks ago that suggested -- this is a magazine -- that suggested he did not have the moral authority to be president. so that is why the president takes this very seriously. he's making his early appeal, what, on the third day of the new year? to christian evangelicals. you can be sure as he makes appeals to all kinds of other voting blocs that he is going to do everything he can to maintain his support with christian evangelicals. the heart of the trump base. >> sandra: we will see his pitch to them later today at that miami church. we will see you this weekend. "fox news sunday," thank you. >> real quickly, can i say -- we can't say who it is yet, we will have a top trump administration national security official who will be explaining -- who knows what the situation will be 48 hours from now, iran may have responded to, or maybe they will have stood down -- but we will talk to this official on "fox news sunday." >> sandra: will be watching.

chris wallace, thank you. >> thank you, sandra. >> leland: a fox news alert on capitol hill were senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is expected to take the floor when the senate reconvenes in less than one hour. i've been off for the holidays for a while. they remain at an impasse over president trump's impeachment trial. chad pergram live on capitol hill with what we expect from the majority leader. hi, chad. >> high back there. we expect them to talk after 12:00. this starts the second session of the 115 congress. we don't know exactly what he will say. will he reissue a placeholder saying we can't act unless we have the articles and media not some other action? maybe the senate might try and move ahead in some fashion with the senate trial outside the bounds of those articles of impeachment. house speaker nancy pelosi continues to hold the ball. nothing has really changed here since the house adopted both articles of impeachment before christmas. this kind of stays in this cryogenic freeze. a stasis right now.

what are the options for mitch mcconnell? could he perhaps introduce some sort of a separate resolution, or say we will have a trial? even if he does, that does not directly reflect in a parliamentary sense on what the house of representatives approved. nancy pelosi continues to keep everybody off balance as long as she has the articles of impeachment. the other question here is whether or not mitch mcconnell and the senate minority leader, chuck schumer, can get together to forge a pact and maybe get all 100 senators to agree. 21 years ago, the then-majority leader and the minority leader, they got together at just about this time 21 years ago and forge an agreement that sets the framework for the impeachment trial for president clinton. that was the operation that they went under that. it's unclear if they could get any sort of agreement for trump's impeachment trial. josh hawley, a republican senator from missouri, says on monday he would introduce a resolution to dismiss the articles of impeachment. here's the problem -- it's hard

to dismiss something that you don't have. as long as house speaker nancy pelosi keeps his articles, nothing can happen. what pelosi is asking for here is to understand the contours of the senate trial, to understand that it would be fair, and the house of representatives doesn't have any vote scheduled until tuesday. so the earliest they could vote to announce the impeachment managers and prosecutors and sent over to the senate is tuesday, and it's probably later than that. we lived, back to you. >> leland: as we know, we are in uncharted waters before the the house and set on this one. chad pergram on capitol hill to break it out for us. thank you. sandra? >> sandra: president trump weighing and after ordering an air strike to kill the iranian top general. what he said the military commander was planning. >> leland: plus, the man charged in the new york konica machete rampage might have been involved in attack on another jewish man. the family calls for an end to this anti-semitic violence. >> stand up and stop this hatr

hatred. we want to go to our synagogues and feel safe. we want to go to groceries and balls and feel safe.

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. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. cut. liberty m... am i allowed to riff? what if i come out of the water?

liberty biberty... cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ hey. ♪hey. you must be steven's phone. now you can take control of your home wifi and get a notification the instant someone new joins your network... only with xfinity xfi. download the xfi app today.

>> sandra: a dramatic escalation of tensions in the middle east after the targeted killing of a powerful iranian military commander, general qassem soleimani, and now president trump is weighing in saying he ordered the attack against the head of iran's elite quds force because the regime general was "plotting to kill many americans." iran is not availing retaliation. we are going to have much more on this developing story ahead. >> it is a complex investigation, because we, too, want to know why this individual went to that location.

what connection, if any, there was to the congregation or the rabbi or that house. that's part of the investigation. we want to know why, just like you want to know why. we are working hard to try and figure that out. >> leland: investigator saying they are still trying to determine the motive behind the hanukkah stabbing attack that left five people wounded. five counts of attempted murder and burglary gets a suspect, that happens today. trial attorney heather hansen, we appreciate you being here. why this house, why this congregation? and then there is the "why it was this motivated, did he hate jews are not? will scoop with the distinction? >> it's not motivated because his hate jews. he contacted to hate hebrew jews. swastikas in his journals. that's under a federal complaint seven of that's true. the idea of why these particular

individuals is more interesting to investigators because they are trying to put their case together and make it airtight. they are also looking into whether he was involved in a stabbing in november in the neighborhood of a hasidic jew. it seems evidence is piling up to show us that was indeed the case and he was involved in that stabbing, as well. there is a lot to come in this investigation. >> leland: from the social justice social conversation about the rise of anti-semitic attacks, the rise of anti-semitism in america, it's critically important. why, how he picked hi these peoe come his journals he pointed out. the state tardis today, is that important >> it's on port for state charges, but very important for hate crimes. this is the type -- he's trying to intervene in a religious ceremony, which crew he did. for hate crime is of the utmost important. we know that governor cuomo is looking to pass some law in new york to have similar laws here. but you are 100% right, we wouldn't. with respect to a charge of

murder it doesn't matter why he tried to kill someone necessarily if they can prove that you did so. motive is not necessarily necessary to establish that a crime has been committed. >> leland: so the federal court would be the same that the charleston chute surety was charged when he shot up the black church in charlson. what how much can be done to grafton thomas was talking to, where he got the thoughts he shared in his journal? why he decided all of a sudden it was a good idea? did anybody tell him how to get from his house to the congregation, et cetera? >> that's a perfect question and another reason they are talking about it. they specifically want to know why he committed this crime. if there's other people involved, the people who have similar ideas and are banding together to do these types of crimes, and we know there's been a rash of anti-semitic crimes especially in this area. investigators want to know that, they want to investigate that, and the most important and want to prevent any similar stabbings are crimes like this in the future. >> leland: as we zoom out to

this rash of anti-semitic crimes, there's been nine or ten in the past couple of weeks just in new york city. hate speech is not a crime. being hateful, talking about white jews are terrible, not a crime. ugly and disgusting, but not a crime. is there any federal mechanism for taking on the groups that inspire these people? >> i think we'll have to be more aware of that type of speech and more aware of those types of people using that type of spee speech. the way this man is identified is because somebody saw his license plate and reported to authorities. the more we are all aware that we all speak up against this type of crime, we can identify those individuals who may be predisposed to committing this type of thing. i think it's not so much a legal issue as a social issue, something we need to be aware of. >> leland: 7 to 7 poverty law center taking lead on that. speak to democrats going to court over what testimony should be allowed in the future senate impeachment

trial. >> leland: and back to the story at the top, the renamed commander killed at a u.s. air strike in iraq. democrats are slamming the trump administration for leaving congress out of the decision. we will have a reaction to all that from ohio congressman brad wenstrup when we come back. >> if anybody challenges us, they will be met with a severe response, a strong response by u.s. forces. so i've been using this awesome new app called rakuten that gives me cash back on everything. that's ebates. i get cash back on electronics, travel, clothes. you're talking about ebates. i can't stop talking about rakuten. pretty good deal - peter sfx [blender] ebates is now rakuten, sign up today. dropping to near record lows, my team at newday usa is helping more veterans refinance than ever.

the newday va streamline refi is the reason why. it lets you shortcut the loan process and refinance with no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. one call can save you $2000 every year. call my team at newday usa right now.

$@'0a[óñ4hx40y@zx2x i had moderate-to-severes rheumatoid arthritis. i've always been the ringleader had a zest for life. flash forward, then ra kept me from the important things. and what my doctor said surprised me. she said my joint pain could mean permanent joint damage. and enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop that joint damage. ask about enbrel so you can get back to being your true self. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common.

or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. visit enbrel.com to see how your joint damage could progress. enbrel fda approved for over 20 years.

>> sandra: tensions rising the middle east after u.s. air strikes killed the head of iran's elite quds force at a baghdad airport. tehran now vowing harsh retaliation for that attack. the iranian commander's death sparking celebrations in the streets of iraq. trey yingst's live in jordan with the latest. trey? >> sandra, good morning. overnight the american forces, they assassinated the leader of iran's quds force. this is a major escalation as

qassem soleimani now dead and others that were killed in the strike, the iranians today vowing to respond to what we know is a drone strike outside of the baghdad international airport, targeting the vehicle that he was in. today iran's supreme leader, the ayatollah khamenei, saying he will have a three-day morning. for the citizens of iran. iranian president hassan rouhani has called it in this crime. protesters gathered in iran, calling on the government to respond to what they are calling a terror attack by the united states, taking out the leader of iran's revolutionary guard and the quds force there. i will pay you a sound bite from mohammad zarif, who reacted earlier today. take a listen. >> america's reaction come without any doubt, is an active state terrorism in violation of iraq sovereignty, which is murdering persons who dedicate

their entire lives to fighting tyranny, oppression, terror, and extremism. >> today u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo says the united states is committed to the escalation in the region. it's important to note that taking out the utmost leader of the iran military -- the iranians are vowing to respond not only in iraq but across the region. center? >> sandra: more coming up. trey yingst reporting from jordan this morning. trey, thanks. >> leland: we began reaction from capitol hill. brad wenstrup, member of the house intelligence committee. he served in iraq, we will get to that and a minute, congressman. a lot of democrats up on capitol hill agree that soleimani was a bad guy. they don't dispute that. but they are angry they were not consulted before the strike. you are on the house until committee. are you upset you were not consulted? >> no, i'm not. we haven't been consulted on most of the strikes that take

place against known terrorists. we weren't consulted necessarily on baghdadi, congress is not consulted on going after bin laden. this is a terrorist. let's make no mistake about that. he may have been a military leader, a supposed sovereign country, but he was a terrorist leader. the iraqi shield militias that existed were iranian-backed. he's their leader. we mentioned before, i served a year in iraq. i so those that didn't make it to the hospital, and also those who lost arms and legs. traumatic brain injuries, eyesight, et cetera. this man is responsible for it. our state department said he is the head of a foreign terrorist organization. that has been known. previous presidents have said the same thing. it was declared officially in april. >> >> leland: jennifer griffintold.

this is what "the new york times" said. general soleimani traveled with an air of impunity, that he was untouchable. one official recalled parking his military jet next to the general soleimani's plane at the airport in northern iraq. past presidents have considered him untouchable in the sense that they feared the response. they feared the same thing, they have their own beef with qassem soleimani but didn't take them out. is it worth the risk back >> we will find out. one of the things we've changed in just the last period of time, we've seen an american killed, americans wounded. reducing our embassy besieged. with this president didn't want, and with the secretary of defense did not want, another benghazi. they did not want another incident like 1979 where there

was the takeover of our embassy and we had also just for 444 days. >> that's the argument that this wasn't payback for all of the bad acts you talked about, that you saw firsthand, or the killing of so many in syria or the killing of so many in lebanon or israel. this was to prevent the future attacks that he was allegedly going to be planning inside ir iraq. as we stretch this out a little bit, you are on the house until committee. when things like this happen, obviously iran, as we look, retaliation is coming, fine. internally, we do our intelligence groups here and services here from these terror groups and countries like iran, do they get scared? do more of their officials go to ground and are less, shall we say, flaunting what they do and how they do it? >> listen, we are always on guard. i think what you seen,

especially with the taking of baghdadi and now the taking of soleimani, that we have a very robust intelligence community who can surveilled, do reconnaissance, and get the information we need so that we can predict future movements and be ready to respond to them. if i was iran i would be sitting there thinking, "man, they are pretty good at this. they seem to be able to know what we are doing and when." >> one of the smartest middle east experts i know who has relationships with the intelligence services, he said, "if i was a terrorist tonight i would not be sleeping very well." real quickly, our producer in the jerusalem bureau reporting that the israeli security cabinet will convene on sunday and discussed the regional aftermath of the killing of soleimani. you know the prime minister to cut his trip short degrees and flew back are you worried at all that in the time we had this run-up of sending u.s. forces in the

middle east, that we have been able to amass enough? that if the iranians do decide to retaliate either against us or israel that we can combat it and prevent what you talked about, a benghazi an iranian hostage crisis? >> somebody who has served, you always want to go with enough. you want more than enough if you can help it. so you can then things in the bud. i'm hoping this act is one form of trying to nip things in the bud. the presence of troops can be a peacekeeping mission. there's no doubt about it. >> that was mark esper's argument yesterday when he was here on this program. he had some very stern warnings, and now we see the results of them. congressman, appreciate your time, sir. welcome back to washington. we will see you soon. >> you but, thank you. >> sandra: a potential problem for the president, a big part of his voter base in the 2016 election projected to not return to the polls this year.

so how will this test donald trump's 2020 strategy? >> plus, thousands evacuating their homes in australia. the deadly wildfires already destroying over 12 million acres. why firefighters are now bracing for the worst. >> the scariest situation i've ever been in the other night. with him here, i'm his grandma, so it was really important for us to get them home safe. we present limu emu & doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the sleep number 360 smart bed. prices of the season on can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. it's the final days of the lowest prices of the season.

the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is $1299. ends sunday i am not for ignoring the first sign of a cold. i am for shortening my cold, with zicam! zicam is completely different. unlike most other cold medicines, zicam is clinically proven to shorten colds. i am a zifan for zicam! oral or nasal.

and let me tell you something, rodeo... i wouldn't be here if i thought reverse mortgages took advantage of any american senior, or worse, that it was some way to take your home. it's just a loan designed for older homeowners, and, it's helped over a million americans. a reverse mortgage loan isn't some kind of trick to take your home. it's a loan, like any other. big difference is how you pay it back. find out how reverse mortgages really work with aag's free, no-obligation reverse mortgage guide.

eliminate monthly mortgage payments, pay bills, medical costs, and more. call now and get your free info kit. other mortgages are paid each month, but with a reverse mortgage, you can pay whatever you can, when it works for you, or, you can wait, and pay it off in one lump sum when you leave your home. discover the option that's best for you. call today and find out more in aag's free, no-obligation reverse mortgage loan guide. access tax-free cash and stay in the home you love. you've probably been investing in your home for years... making monthly mortgage payments... doing the right thing... and it's become your family's heart and soul... well, that investment can give you tax-free cash just when you need it. learn how homeowners are strategically using a reverse mortgage loan to cover expenses, pay for healthcare, preserve your portfolio, and so much more. look, reverse mortgages aren't for everyone but i think

i've been 'round long enough to know what's what. i'm proud to be a part of aag, i trust 'em, i think you can too. trust aag for the best reverse mortgage solutions. so you can... retire better. >> leland: australian firefighters warning of extremely injured. rising temperatures under strong lids forecasted to intensify what our already devastating wildfires raging across the country. tours are struggling to escape the flames in one of the largest evacuations in that country's history. thousands sought refuge on beaches earlier this week. >> sandra: a test for the trump campaign in 2020, as the president's white working class 2016 base is expected to decline in numbers before the next election.

making waves with the rise of popular younger left-leaning voters. let's bring in rachel campos-duffy. good morning to you. >> good morning, sandra. happy new year. >> leland>> sandra: great to se. i will redo the headline, it'll be up on the skin for everybody. democratic shift poised to test the 2020 strategy, white working-class voters projected to decline and be replaced by democratic-leaning groups. do you have concerns about that happening? >> well, look -- i think it's true that trump voters are white and they are older. the working class. i don't think those democrats really show what is working the party. he is change the party. it's a working-class party. donald trump has co-opted so many of the democrat policies, he has delivered on those policies to the working class, and the working class in america isn't just white. it's brown, it's black, it's asian. i don't think those graphics are

going to play 2020 because of these fundamental changes within the party. i think the challenge for trump is, look, you've delivered on these policies. it's time for you to go and take credit for them. are they going to use some of that haul of money they brought and then the last fund-raising quarter, to take credit, go into these communities, build their base out? is trump going to go over the head of the media and tell his own story? because the g.o.p. has never had a better story to tell minorities in terms of the economy, in terms of working-class jobs. things about prisons and criminal justice reform. there is a lot that they have two so on. but they are to have to go in and tell the story, because the media isn't going to do it for them. one less thing, center, that's really important to note -- if you know the numbers in the article, the democrats have no room for defections. they cannot afford to.

that's why they've doubled down on racism and g.o.p. hates you, donald trump hates you, and that's why they are doing that. they are afraid and embarrassed that barack obama, in eight years of the first black president, didn't deliver for minorities in the working class. >> sandra: it depends who you ask. some credit the booming economy to former president obama, of course. let me read you a piece of this article from "the wall street journal," rachel. "working-class white voters projected decline by 2.3 percentage points nationally as the share of eligible voters, compared with the last election mr. trump will have to coax more votes from a shrinking base." which we were talking about. "or else find more votes in other parts of the electorate." so how could the campaign strategy shift to do that? >> first of all, he has increased enthusiasm thanks to nancy pelosi and impeachment. a lot of numbers you saw in the fund-raising and enthusiasm you saw in the last quarter came because of impeachment, people

who voted for him are more enthusiastic. and excited about voting for trump. but you are right, he needs to draw from other places. i believe the place to go is not suburban moms, he obviously should try some of the juul stuff he's doing, the vaping stuff is aimed at them. but the real numbers will come for minorities. or should come from them. he has delivered for the working poor. but his good indication steam for some reason has been a little bit reticent about going in and taking credit on spanish television, in black cities. he needs to go directly to them. make the case, and take credit for what he's done for them. >> sandra: 's the communications director is quoted in this article as saying that "mr. trump has reach out to voters from all backgrounds and will continue to do so," and that he has better tools today than in 2016 to draw supporters to the polls. so that's their take. we have heard your message,

rachel campos-duffy. great to talk to you this morning agreed to see you. happy new year. >> thanks, sandra. you got it. happy new year. >> leland: we will hear from the president and a couple hours, and likely will mention this. iran's top military commander killed in a u.s. air strike, reaction has been pouring in from around the world. but what about inside of iran? which of the iranian people think? an insider's view will be enlightening, next. >> men and women on the ground there today, we take serious the need for their security. we are working on it. we've been planning for this and we are prepared. dental much s. when you're not able to smile, you become closed off. having to live with bad teeth for so long was extremely depressing. now, i know how happy i am. there was all the feeling good about myself that i missed and all of the feeling bad about myself that was unnecessary. at aspen dental, we're all about yes. like yes to free exams and x-rays for new patients without insurance. yes to flexible hours and payment options. and yes, whenever you're ready to get started, we are too. don't wait, book at aspendental.com

or call today. a general dentistry office.

beyond the routine checkups. beyond the not-so-routine cases. comcast business is helping doctors provide care in whole new ways. all working with a new generation of technologies powered by our gig-speed network. because beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected. to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond.

here, it all starts withello! hi!... how can i help? a data plan for everyone. everyone? everyone. let's send to everyone! wifi up there? uhh. sure, why not? how'd he get out?! a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your local xfinity store today.

>> sandra: iran vowing retaliation after president trump authorize the killing of the regime's second most powerful leader, general of the elite quds force, qassem soleimani. iran's supreme leader declaring several days of mourning. but what did the iranian people actually think of the general? joining us now, an iranian journalist and activist. we had the chance to speak on monday evening, your journey us here in the morning after the death of this iranian leader. what are the people inside of iran, what is the reaction to this this morning? >> let me make it clear, we don't have freedom of expression in iran. all you see in the iranian state television, state media, showing some people took to the street,

showing their sympathy with qassem soleimani. but the fact is this -- many iranians do not see him as a hero. if you go to social media, they are very happy. why? because they have been witnessing how revolutionary guard killed people in the streets across iran. just recent protests. in recent protests, 1500 people got killed, and the revolutionary guard was in charge. qassem soleimani, too many iranians, is responsible for killing, torture, not just in recent protests. i remember there was a protest, students are to the street, and he was one of the main figures in iran. sent a letter to the reformist president and complained about it and asked for more killing. that is why, if you ask me, go and talk to people in

social media. you will see that they are actually not morning. >> sandra: i want to put a tweet up on the screen that caught our attention this morning that you put out in reaction to his death. you said it's important for many iranians, qassem soleimani was a warmonger who caused massive casualties in syria. he was no hero to the average iranians who chanted against the country, "support for hezbollah and hamas." tens of thousands of people are taking to the streets of tehran to protest against american crimes, they are calling them. this is again afp reporting this after the stroke of the iranian leader, chanting "death to america" and holding up posters of the slain commander. so we are getting two different perspectives, mixed reports of what is happening inside of iran, and what we are hearing from the iranian people this morning. >> ask a simple question to all of the foreign correspondents in iran -- where are those people,

they lost their beloved one, they are protesting in the streets, they got killed, and their family aren't even allowed to have a public service. why are they not covering the stories? the reason is obvious. because these journalists, cnn journalists, "new york times," those who are in iran, they live in their own bubbles. they live in -- north of tehran. they aren't in touch with ordinary people. most important, they are only allowed to cover the stories where the ministry of culture tells him to cover. otherwise they will lose their connection. for most of the media, it's important to have connections. with zavad jarif , with political leaders. they can't tell how much people are actually angry, frustrated. because of these terrorists. warmonger juul telling something -- there was a massive demonstration in iraq recently.

people were chanting against soleimani in iran, when people risk their lives, they say that we don't want to spend the money in iraq, in syria, and lebanon. and we have now, and enemies, the islamic republic. people do not want war or any kind of military confrontation. but our leader, they are the warmongers. they are kicking us out. putting people in prison. they took our family hostage. the family of those people who got killed are in prison. my brother is in prison, arrested by revolutionary guard. why? am i warmonger? this is the revolutionary guard and qassem soleimani. >> sandra: what was your reaction to the news overnight of this strike, then? >> you know, from the beginning, my dream was to see them in court. this was my dream.

if it was a free world, we have to bring them in court and ask all those mothers, all those fathers, all those children who lost their families in war, they are responsible. they have to be face-to-face with the families. but right now i strongly believe, because qassem soleimani is responsible about the misery in syria, the misery in iraq, this is what they have to face. actually, i published me dancing with some floors on twitter. that's why i got a lot of backlash from the islamic republic, which i don't care. speed you are and activist, journalist, you're in touch with the iranian people every day. as you said, your brother is being held. you talk to iranian families every day. you are a journalist any genesis morning. we spoke on monday, and this happen, you join us again this morning. we appreciate that.

thank you, masih. >> thank you. i invite you to go to social media and talk to people. 40,000 comments under the post that i said, that this is the fact. soleimani is not a hero for most of iranians. >> sandra: we appreciate it, masih. thank you. >> leland: fox news alert ads we are following events on capitol hill. moments from now, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell will take the floor, and he could address the upcoming senate trial is nancy pelosi continues to hold onto those articles of impeachment. attentions veterans with va loans, va mortgage rates have just dropped to near 50 year lows. veterans can refinance their va loans with no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. newday has extended our call center hours so that every veteran in america can take advantage of this unexpected drop in interest rates. one call can save you $2000 every year. to start saving on your next mortgage payment go to

i need all the breaks as athat i can get.or, at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. cut. liberty m... am i allowed to riff? what if i come out of the water? liberty biberty... cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

the good news? our comfort lasts all day. the bad news? so does his energy. depend® fit-flex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. because, perfect or not, life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. >> all right, take a look at the dow right now. 190 points, stabilized, if you will. >> we will see. it is friday after a long holiday week, congress will return and we will see what happens with impeachment, the ongoing reaction to iran, and

more. >> some of us work on the weekend, we will break down what's happening in iraq. the next time the secretary of defense comes on, pay attention to every word he says. >> thanks, leland. "outnumbered" starts right now. >> melissa: of fox news alert, we are awaiting senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and minority leader chuck schumer to speak on the floor as the senate returns from recess. they are expected to weigh in on this stunning event in the middle east. president trump ordering the air strike that took out iran's most powerful general, qassem soleimani, near baghdad's airport. iran's top leaders vowing retaliation. soleimani was the mastermind behind a sum of iran's deadliest attacks and had the blood on americans on his hands. the strike was to disrupt an "imminent attack" that could've cost caused more american lives