>> oh, my goodness! this is between the nfl and the dog show? >> on sundays i have to herd cats. with these guys, dogs. [laughter] >> had to fox nation for the after show. >> so long, we'll see you tomorrow! >> bill: thanks, guys. fox news alert, we begin watching and waiting for a briefing of secretary state mike pompeo. will hear fro hear the latest fm on iran, repeatedly valuing retaliation against united states. back on center stage, good morning, everybody. i'm bill hemmer live here in new york city. >> sandra: good morning, bill. a busy morning indeed. i'm sandra smith. the iranian parliament designating the u.s. military a terrorist organization as washington and tehran trade threats following the killing of qassem soleimani. top military officials say the iranian commander was in the process of planning a "significant combat operation" against the u.s. >> bill: meanwhile you have

chaos erupting as many gathered in the hometown of the commander, prior to burial. in which more than 30 iranians were trampled to death. back in washington, president trump defending his actions amid criticism from democrats. >> he should have been taken out a long time ago. we had a shot at it and we took him out. we are a lot safer now because of it. >> president trump had promised to keep the united states out of endless wars in the middle east. the president's actions, however, have seemingly increased the risk that we could be dragged into exactly such a war. >> toward an all-out war with iran would make the wars we seen in iraq and afghanistan look like a picnic. >> you don't see anyone standing up for iran. the only ones that are mourning the loss of soleimani are our democrat leadership and our democrat presidential candidates. >> we should welcome his death, but we must remain vigilant and

soberly prepare for even further aggression. >> bill: we have every angle covered. senator rand paul, directional and help a lucas tomlinson reporting from the pentagon. trey yingst back in baghdad. trey? >> bill, good morning. according to iranian state television, at least 40 people were killed and more than 200 injured after a stampede during the funeral of iranian general qassem soleimani in his hometown. the event did push back the burial time that will formally end a three-day morning. implemented by iran's supreme leader the ayatollah khamenei. they said today it wanted to see revenge, adding a headline that said "revenge is coming very soon. we all became taking bombs." this, as iranian-backed militias say they are awaiting orders to carry out revenge attacks against the united states and its forces in iraq. a spokesperson for the movement here in the rocks as resistant leaders will be within the next

24 hours to announce a united front against the u.s. presence. some new threats from atop a running general. take a listen. translator: the pressure america exerts on the islamic nation will lead the peoples of the islamic countries to pull them out of the nests of their spies on their military bases. i can see that day. they will pull them out and hang them blindfolded from the trees in their cities. >> there is an all-too-familiar calm before the storm here in baghdad. many residents concerned about the possibility of a conflict between the united states and iran. the bottom line here is that if you do not support the iranian regime, you are in danger. if you are an american citizen, you are at risk. all of this very uncertain in the middle east, and baghdad in particular. the green zone off to my left, many concerns of attacks there in the coming days. >> bill: trey yingst again in the iraqi capital today. thank you, sir.

sandra? >> sandra: meanwhile, the u.s. military carrying out a show for us, taking b-52 bombers to nightly news middle east. lucas tomlinson live at the pentagon with more on that. lucas, good morning. >> good morning, sandra. the u.s. military is on high alert in the middle east now that soleimani's morning period is coming to an end. revenge for the drone strike that killed qassem soleimani. top pentagon officials say the u.s. is not leaving iraq after the draft letter suggested otherwise. >> it was the draft, it was a mistake, it should not have been signed. it implies withdrawal. that's not what's happening. >> there's been no decision made to leave iraq, period. >> is a mention, six air force b-52 bombers have been deployed from the air force base in louisiana. paul back in may, a bomber task force was sent to qatar. it's not immediately clear why

these bombers are not going back there. there are many nervous golf allies in the region. defense secretary mark esper defended his decision to kill soleimani. "how do you expect us not to respond after they've been killing her people for 20 years? soleimani alone has the blood of hundreds of americans. he's wooded thousands of americans and coalition partners. he is a terrorist. a leader of a terrorist organization that's been killing and attacking americans for 20 some years, and blood is on the sands. this plenty of attacks on american forces." the pentagon says soleimani wasn't as possible for total rocket attacks sitting back from late october, sandra. >> sandra: lucas tomlinson at the pentagon, thank you. >> bill: fresh reaction, the trump administration earlier today insisting the strike help protect american lives overseas. >> the intel we had come of the information we had, we believe it was very strong. soleimani on those he was plotting with were looking to kill american diplomats and soldiers in significant numbers in the coming days.

that's where the president authorized the successful operation that was undertaken by the u.s. military. >> bill: our next guest calls it a bad decision. senator rand paul from kentucky, good morning. if what robert o'brien just said is true, how can you afford not to? >> i think you have to ask yourself and ask the general question, are attacks more or less likely now that soleimani is gone? the person who has replaced them has been his assistant general for 22 years, is a hard-liner, and now the whole country of iran is consumed with revenge. so i think if you are asking yourself, "will they be attacks on america?" i think there are much more likely to be attacked now with his death. you have to ask, if anybody thinks there's the possibility to films he will work, how can it work if you kill the major general of another country? i think we have taken the policy off the table, and the only possibility now is military escalation. it's unknown how much military

escalation, but i think it will be an escalation. >> bill: on that point, i think less that you called it a death of diplomacy, five got your quote right. was there much to them seem to begin with, senator? >> there was with the iran agreement. it wasn't perfect, and i was a critic of the iran agreement, however, i think it was a big mistake to pull out of the agreement. you should have tried to build upon the iran agreement. we did that come up with them he placed an embargo where iran was not allowed to sell any goods internationally, including their main export of oil. an active embargo is like an act of war. to top that off, we've now killed one of their major general's. i think it is the death of diplomacy, and i see no way to get it back started again until sort of the revenge of the iranian people is somehow seated. i hate this, i hate that this is where we are going. i have been someone for engagement, but there is much more killing, much less violence after the iran agreement. there was a little when we were enabled don't like it or too

much more stable situation. it may face and neck be gone for a lifetime >> bill: rush limbaugh directed to this comment here from president trump. >> he is responsible for the ied, the roadside bombs. and the sister, the big one. the big version that actually knocks out tanks and kills everybody within earshot. he is responsible for all those incredible young people over at walter reed and he should have been taken out a long time ago. >> bill: would you take exception to that, senator? >> there are a lot of reports about the iuds, the heightened reports are coming from iran. whether or not one person was responsible for that is not something i have the knowledge to tell you. is soleimani the bad guy? yes. is the guy who replaces him a bad guy? yes. was qaddafi a bad guy, was hussein a bad guy? yes. we have to ask yourselves --

president trump is that this millions of thousands of times, that saddam hussein was a bad guy, but taking him out destabilize the region. it is about the broader invocations of killing someone, not whether they are or not. foreign policy can be based on killing everyone they believe is evil or bad in the world. there are thousands and thousands of such people. after look at the ramifications of what. my fear is that this killing will create more killing and it precludes the idea of having any kind of diplomatic relations with iran. it was difficult before this, and i think it's impossible. >> bill: some are suggesting thinks go quiet for a time. we will see who is right in the end. what would you have done? >> with regard to soleimani? i think what i would have done was months ago. this is what i encouraged the trump administration months ago, to renew diplomatic relations and have discussions. there were people and there are moderates that were willing to

have diplomacy. their voices are completely squelched by this period will be done is empowered the hard-liners, brought together people who might have had misgivings about the government. they are rallying around the ring end. it's all going in the opposite direction. but there was a time and there were people within the arena and moderate community who did want to have discussions. that's over now. they cannot talk to us now, because it is now than rallying around the flag. anybody who is independent or indecisive or moderate is now rallying around the iranian flag. no, this has set us back a great deal. there were people who blamed the iranian government for the economic problems they had. they had protest over gas prices a month or two ago. all those people are now rallying around the flag and around what they perceive as an aggressive move by america. >> bill: let's see where that goes. i want to squeeze in one more question impeachment. what you think nancy pelosi strategy is? how do you see that pulling out now? >> [laughs] it is still hard for me to

fathom how she thinks she's going to publisher republicans by withholding the impeachment, what which in one of us repaid she is punishing us by not sending the impeachment? she can keep it, as far as i'm concerned. >> bill: rand paul on they'll come a lot to cover on that. >> sandra: a lot to take in there. reaction from the white house, our headliner, press secretary stephanie grisham. she will be our guest and live to respond to all the happenings this morning. of course, that will come about the same time be expecting for mike pompeo at the state department. so we hope to check in with her first and then hear from the secretary of state. >> bill: a big morning coming up. you got this foreign policy front and center on the campaign trail. bernie sanders hammering joe biden on his vote for the iraq war. polls tightening up in iowa. weeks ago, 28 days now before

the caucus there. first week of february. >> sandra: coming fast. a game changer from john bolton. former national security advisor saying he would testify at a senate impeachment trial if subpoenaed. whatever chances of that actually happening? >> bill: fox news alert, puerto rico plunged into darkness. a powerful earthquake hitting more than two years after hurricane maria devastated the island. we are on the ground to tell you what's happening there today as the sun comes up. [alarm beeping] {tires screeching} {truck honking} (avo) life doesn't give you many second chances. but a subaru can. (dad) you guys ok? you alright? wow. (avo) eyesight with pre-collision braking. standard on the subaru ascent. the three-row subaru ascent. love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru.

>> sandra: fox news alert now from puerto rico, a powerful 6.4 earthquake hitting the southern part of the island, just before dawn today. at least one person was killed, eight others injured. it was followed by several strong after shocks that cause heavy damage in some areas. their reports now of widespread power outages. it was the latest in a series of strong tremors to rock the island recent days.

>> bill: meanwhile, former national security advisor john bolton saying he will testify at a senate trial if subpoenaed. only problem is, speaker pelosi still has the impeachment articles. republicans might have the votes. guy lewis, former u.s. attorney, served the justice department during the george hw administration. guy, how are you doing? good morning to you. just around noon eastern time yesterday, does the headline scream a little louder than the actual story, guy, do you believe? >> i think it does, bill. i don't think the offer by john bolton to testify, if you subpoenaed, amounts to much of anything. we don't have his john bolton saying, "the president is something illegal. the present to something impeachable." that's i was on the table. bill: there was reporting, i think it was politico. cracks appearing in republican unity. do you see that at this point or not, guy? >> i don't, bill.

i think we are seeing a wait and see. they are lining up behind senator mcconnell, rightly so. look, we don't even have the articles of impeachment yet. they are still sitting over in the house, and with all due respect to senator paul, i don't think you can't just be happy if they just sit over there and stay forever. it's just not fair. >> bill: so you were listening to rand paul. what part of his commentary do you disagree with, guy? >> the senator says, "look, i'm fine if they just stay over there." it would be like me as a prosecutor, who did it for a long time, returning an indictment, united states united states versus bill hemmer, and letting it sit out there. it's unconstitutional. it's not fair. you have a right to a trial, and the senate, according to the constitution, is supposed to try these articles. that's not what happened. >> bill: 's who are making the case it needs to be resolved. let's see where that goes. susan collins is one of these

moderate senators. here is her commentary come to us in 24 hours about witnesses on the senate side. >> there are a number of witnesses that may well be appropriate for stage three, of which he would certainly be one. of course, it's always possible that the president would exert executive privilege and tried to block that testimony. >> bill: what she is referring to is the precedent set during the clinton trial of january 1999. do you see a crack there were a senator willing to hear out the issue? >> the latter. it makes a lot of sense. during the clinton impeachment hearings, there was a unanimous vote out of the senate to say, "hey, let's hear opening arguments. let's let this proceed carefully and thoughtfully." and then, and only then, decide whether or not we need witnesses. by the way, bill, it's not this

dramatic "open the back doors of the chamber and watched john bolton walk in and be sworn and cross-examined." they would likely send all the parties away, the managers, let them take some very limited depositions, and then come back and read them. that's how they did it with clinton. if, big gift, they decided witnesses, that's how they should do it this time around. >> bill: josh hawley was on the sean hannity last night. he's making a push to dismiss the articles entirely. i don't think it's getting much steam just yet, but here's his comment on that about nancy pelosi. >> the house speaker is trying to run the united states senate. she's trying to hijack the trial. she's trying to obstruct the trial. the senate has the power to try the case, and it's time for the senate to fight back. >> bill: so, what do you think her strategy is today? >> [laughs] boy, oh, boy. the truth is, i don't know. she is sitting on these things, she has not said what she is other than the fact that she wants to manipulate and direct

the senate process, which she can't do. listen, the constitution matters. process matters. the house has returned the articles of impeachment, and now the senate is supposed to try them. let's get along with the peoples' business. >> bill: guy lewis, thank you for your time. there is a theory out there, some believe she's waiting on more evidence. if she gets that, either present at the senate side or maybe you reopen a different case in the house. it is not going to happen? >> well, that's a good question. the question back is, is this ever going to end? do we use this as a political weapon in order to keep this hanging over the president? the me ask you this -- how long to be keep it open? to be keep it open through the election? through the summer? does it ever come to an end? look, in the constitution, in civil cases that i try every

day, you are entitled to a right to go forward. while i appreciate the senator from missouri's motion -- she's got about ten or 12 people -- that you could dismiss it if it's not prosecuted. , there's some underlying fairness to that concept. a person has a right to go forward. the case should be tried. >> bill: thank you, guy come for your time today. we are out of it for now. >> sandra: now to australia where fire crews are rushing to contain region wildfires. >> i thought we were going to burn alive. actually, as we were leaving the property, the area we were... >> sandra: we will be live on the ground as president trump is now pledging american help. huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker?

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>> sandra: fox news alert now, president trump offering australia help fighting widespread wildfires. the president speaking with the prime minister to offer sympathy and support. that phone call coming as firefighters take advantage of a slight break in the brutal summer heat to focus on containing those fires. so far, 25 people have died and rescue workers are also trying to save australia's animals.

>> we are all going to be dead! there was so much spark and fire, i didn't think they were going to be any alive. they are my family. it's like losing your family. it's like losing your family. >> sandra: live in new south wales, about 160 miles south of sydney, australia, for us. jeff? >> sandra, with that much needed break in weather, some of the people here in australia who are forced to evacuate are starting to return home. firefighters obviously doing their best to save as many properties as possible, but in some cases those flames are just too intense, leading to the loss of as many as 2,000 homes. that has led to some very high costs, and according to some agencies here in australia, insurance claims have doubled in just the last two days. the insurance council of

australia estimating insurance claims of nearly $500 million in u.s. dollars. 130 fires still burning, just in new south wales alone, and firefighters remain on the front lines of these massive bushfires. they are trying to get an upper hand before those temperatures are set to rise over the next few days. >> we are even experiencing some more mild conditions, and some shower activity and localized rainfalls in some areas, including on some of the fairgrounds. a bit of a mixed result, but certainly a reprieve of sorts. psychological and emotional come if nothing else. but also a lowering of the fair conditions, which is a good thing. >> we are also learning more about the impact these bushfires have had on wildlife in australia. it's not just the fire that has led to so many deaths among animals. some estimates of half a billion animals. but also, the destruction of their habitat, which could take years and years to rebuild. some wildlife experts saying even if certain creatures to revive the flames they might die

due to a lack of shelter or starve. officials again saying the death toll is more than two dozen. some still unaccounted for. we are also seeing images from at least two funerals from dominic for firefighters who died trying to battle this bushfire. sandra? >> jeff paul, thank you. >> bill: another alert now, trump initiation saying their mission to kill the commander and iran was necessary to protect american lives. moments ago the pentagon made public a long list of attacks blamed on general soleimani. dan hoffman, former cia station chief, will address that next. these are real people,

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>> with the president did lift the iranian regime completely flat-footed. that was the number one guy that has literally told all of the proxies and all of these countries who to kill, when to kill, how to kill. that guy is now gone. iran is having to regroup and figure out, "now what?" make no mistake, they are shaking in their boots. >> sandra: former u.n. ambassador nikki haley on fox news last night. meantime, this morning we are waiting to hear from secretary of state mike pompeo. he is expected to speak about 3. we should learn exactly what the next steps are for the united states, as we expect to hear from him and possibly to questions from reporters. dan hoffman joining us, former cia station chief, noah fox news contributor.

good morning to you. as we await the breaking news and to hear from the secretary of state top of the hour. your expectations for us on what we might hear from? >> i think he is on the hook at least a little bit to address the nature of the intelligence with which he described as imminent threats to our people and their installations in iraq. which may have influenced and precipitated the admin's ration decision to strike soleimani. i also think he should be asked and expect to discuss our strategy. make no mistake, this decision to hit soleimani was a major change in u.s. strategy. not just toward iran, but toward the region at large. >> sandra: a major change and major change in strategy. rand paul just weighed in on that and said that this is the death of diplomacy with iran. i want to get you to respond to this. >> we have to look at the ramifications of what comes next. my fear is the ramifications of this killing will be more killing and that it has

precluded the idea of having an account diplomatic relations with iran. it was already difficult before this. now i think it's impossible. >> sandra: how do you respond to this, dan? >> i respect we disagree with senator paul. i would like to see him turn his rhetorical fire toward the iranians and the late qassem soleimani, responsible for so much murder and mayhem and terrorism in the region. if you want to see the onset of diplomacy, maybe the best way to do it is restore united states deterrence and escalation dominance over iran's military, as we might have done with the strike. that is the way we make it clear that those strikes against our people and our installations need to stop. our elected leaders should keep in mind there are many in iran and throughout the region who are highly critical of soleimani, certainly inside iran, for diverting finite resources, people, and money for pay for adventures in syria and iraq and yemen. their brave protesters, some of

whom have torched iranian compounds, because they're so upset with iranian influence. soleimani was the target of all that. we shoul should think it is lean the wrong direction that we took and met with the strike. >> sandra: the decision was ultimately made to take this man out, dan. the present went on with rush limbaugh talking about previous administration, we knew then and why nothing was done then. he said this on the rush limbaugh show. >> he is a terrorist. he was designated a terrorist by president obama. then obama did nothing about it except give them $150 billion, and even more incredibly, $1.8 million in cash. >> sandra: should something have been done sooner? >> you know, it's tricky when

you look back with 20/20 hindsight. i will tell you, i served in iraq for a year and it was frustrating for us to see someone like soleimani is the architect of these iranian proxy militia attacks on our people and our installations. we could do with the foot soldiers, and we did, but when you stop the leader you make it very clear that the next person in charge, if he orders the same sort of attacks, will suffer the same fate. that might induce iran to stop the targeting of our people. there may be some short-term retaliations from iran, but i think one of the things the intelligence committee would have done is taken a look at the middle east with soleimani still alive. and without soleimani still life. determine how that might seat u.s. national security interest. on balance, we are all better off that he's no longer on this earth. >> sandra: nikki haley made the point in the interview last night that iran is shaking in their boots.

"the wall street journal" this morning talks about trump's post-soleimani world. yet cement to the consequences of his deterrent strike. we know they are valuing retaliation. what happens next, down, with our strategy? >> first of all, iran is extraordinarily isolated. they are the revolutionary power in the region. they are seeking to dominate the region as much as they can, from syria to elect on mike iraq, yemen, bahrain. they have launched attacks against saudi arabia. they are a fierce actor. in the and they know it's regimesuicid. i think what they have done clearly is state they need to back off right now. we own escalation dominance, and they would be risking their own regime security, survival, if they cross our redline. i would be surprised to hear secretary of state pompeo say that he has been very strong going back to early december when he said that we would take

decisive action if they struck our people were installations, and that's what they did. >> sandra: i mentioned this update that will be given to congress over the decision that was made and ultimately the intelligence behind it. there will be a briefing of sorts from the pentagon. how important is it that the american people are privy to some of that information as well? and ultimately the decision to take this man out? >> i think that a somewhat important, but the intelligence may have been such that there were imminent threats to our people and installations in iraq. there are a variety of options to deal with those threats. i think really what we should be focusing on is the administration strategy. that is something the american people should hear about, and i think that's why secretary pompeo's address today to the nation at 10:00 is so important. even more important than just the intelligences where the administration is heading, why they made the decision -- the right one, in my view -- target soleimani the way they did.

i think that is what's key for us. then advising our people about the potential threats we face from iran, not just in the middle east but here in the homeland, from iranian proxies. remember, iran tried to kill the saudi ambassador in washington, d.c. so they have some reach there has below our country. and watch for state and local law enforcement with our intelligence community and military to work together and mitigate those threats. >> sandra: we expect that update from the secretary of state about 21 minutes from now. i know you will stand by for that. i appreciate your time this morning, thank you. >> bill: important stuff coming it. meantime, ivanka trump said the secret service helped her avoid "a major parenting fail." she says her 3-year-old son, theo, tried to run off air force one as it landed in washington on sunday. the secret service stepped in and grabbed the toddler. she thanked the secret service agents on board. she has three children with her husband, jared kushner. a big save right there. >> sandra: three children, enough said. hands full, a lot to watch.

>> bill: you know it well! [laughter] >> sandra: back to our top story. democrats easing on iran tensions at the latest political football in the race. we will tell you how bernie sanders -- >> bill: how much longer can nancy pelosi hold onto the articles of impeachment, and what is her next move? >> i think what they are trying to do is affect the election illegally, but that's what they are trying to do. the reason is because they are a joke. they are not crimes, there is nothing there. they found nothing. hey, saved you a seat.

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♪ robin hood and little john runnin' through the forest ♪ ♪ laughin' back and forth at what the other'ne has to say ♪ there's a booking for every resolution. book yours at booking.com >> joe biden voted and helped lead the effort for the war in iraq. the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country. joe biden voted for the disastrous trade agreements like nafta. if we are going to beat trump, we need turn out.

to get turned out, you need energy and excitement. i just don't think that kind of record is going to bring forth the energy we need. >> bill: here we are, 28 days away from iowa. bernie sanders going after joe biden significantly on foreign policy, citing his vote in favor of the iraq war is a race tightens up in the hawkeye state. they are seizing on the heightened tensions with iran, as well. juan williams, political analyst, cohost of the five. how are you doing, juan? happy new year to you. on the lot of these topics, how vulnerable do you think joe biden's on be going out on foreign policy, the target at the moment given what happened with general soleimani. there's a legitimate argument to be made that joe biden voted for the gulf war but voted -- i'm sorry, voted against the gulf war but voted for the war in iraq. as you know, many people both don't like think those are both mistakes. that he should have supported the gulf war, and bernie sanders in particular says that vote for the war in iraq was a mistake.

>> bill: give me a sense, juan, about how popular bernie sanders' position is. in the democratic primary. >> externally popular. but he has no foreign policy record, no credentials that can match up with a man who was head of the foreign relations committee in the senate and vice president of the united states. that is a huge gap. the better argument for bernie sanders is, "you voted for nafta, mr. vice president." how will that play for voters in the midwest we need in order to defeat but dominic donald trump? >> bill: anderson cooper, he says how does that play with michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania? so you would suggest he's vulnerable on that? >> if you listen to the power of his statement, is trying to get at the idea that so many moderate democrats have decided, "you know what? bernie sanders has a lot of energy and populist passions bind and pay look at the small donors have given to him." but can he defeat donald trump connect they say no.

here is bernie sanders saying, "yes, i can turn out voters who have more energy, more passion than joe biden, who voted for nafta," and he's arguing nafta took away jobs. >> bill: iowa, we've got the polling so far, the averages together show sanders, buttigieg, and biden. one, two, three. in new hampshire, sanders, biden, buttigieg. do you see a three way wastes don migrates shaping up your? >> i think spacing would have to show something beyond neptune i would. i think we are seeing sanders and biden. i think is a up for biden, because biden comes out of iowa and new hampshire. somewhere in the mix. he has a firewall in south carolina, nevada. >> bill: so you see a sanders-biden race? >> that's what i see now. >> bill: will you see both men go to milwaukee next august? >> absolutely. >> bill: wow. that will be a story.

>> if you are suggesting a contested convention, i think it's possible. right now if you had money to bet, if i was in vegas, i would go with biden. >> bill: lastly, what is nancy pelosi strategy? what is she waiting for? looking for? what's up? >> i think with john bolton yesterday saying he's willing to testify, i think that puts pressure on either the house, to look at more articles of impeachment, before the senate, for mitch mcconnell to say, "we are open to whatever evidence is there." so far mccall has indicated he is not. >> bill: republicans are looking at this now and thinking, "where does it end?" or does it? >> that has too. you have pressure on pelosi, she just can't have it dangling. but she can try to leverage it to make the argument that there should be a real trial and not a show trial. >> bill: see you at 5:00. back to center now. >> sandra: a craig live look at the state department, where in a matter of moments we will e hearing from secretary of state mike pompeo about the situation with iran. our coverage will continue here.

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>> sandra: california now facing a new kind of crime spree. car break-ins. they are surging to more than 240,000 cases. william la jeunesse is in los angeles with that story. william?

>> sandra, it's a black eye for the golden state and a warning to tourists. if you're coming to l.a. or san francisco, don't leave anything in your car. thieves are targeting hollywood, shopping centers, santa monica, especially san francisco, where thieves are hitting 70 cars a day and only 2% get prosecuted. don't think throwing a jacket over your laptop or purse is going to fool them. it's not. >> they think, "i put my laptop under the mat of the car." i go, "are you kidding me? they look in with flashlights and they can see that there is a bump! yes, they're going to break in, they want to see what's there." >> here's the shocker, there are two loopholes in the law. one requiring prosecutors to prove a car door is locked even if your stuff is stolen, and two, a thief can steal over and over but never get charged a felony if the theft is under

$1,000. so why don't lawmakers change it? democrats in charge in sacramento support prison reform and don't want to put more people in jail for nonviolent crimes. >> even if your window is smashed and they break in, you still have to prove that your doors were locked. that's nonsense. >> if you commit a crime, a theft that's under $950, it doesn't matter how many times you committed. it doesn't matter how many times you are convicted. you can never be charged with a felony. >> so, cops and residents are getting smarter and sentences go. the gangs in the bay area are now coming to l.a. where car breweries are up 60% of the west side. it will get $1,000 for each piece of luggage they take for e tourists. sandra? >> sandra: what a story. william la jeunesse, thank you. >> bill: secretary of state mike pompeo about the whole debriefing any moment now at the state department, iran issued new threats to u.s. forces and our allies. as we await that we will bring

in our headliner, white house press secretary stephanie grisham. she will join us next to talk about iran, and impeachment, and more. a big hour coming up, come on back. do you have concerns about mild memory loss related to aging? prevagen is the number one pharmacist-recommended memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >> man: what's my my truck...is my livelihood. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me. >> tech: hi, i'm adrian. >> man: thanks for coming. ...with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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that commission with me. and you have money, more money to spend because you got free money. go to rakuten.com and sign up today for a $10 bonus. >> sandra: fox news alert now, secretary of state mike pompeo set to deliver my remarks any moments amid escalating tensions with iran, as leaders in tehran val revenge on america.

targeting troops and possibly israel payable to a brand-new hour of my decision. i'm sandra smith. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer, good morning. aheathe head of iran's revolutiy guard vowing revenge, vowing to set ablaze site supported by the u.s. at the moment we are waiting to hear from secretary of state mike pompeo. his remarks moments away. we will take you there live when they begin. in the meantime, stephanie grisham is our headliner under the cell from washington. welcome back to our program here, and good morning to you. among the conversations at the white house, what is the expected response? at the anticipated response on behalf of iran? >> secretary grisham: that is not something we would know about, but we are definitely ready for it. if they choose to retaliate, the president has made clear we are ready for that. our military is of course on high alert, and we will just see what happens. we hope it doesn't happen. the president has said he does not seek any kind of escalation or war.

again, we will see what happens. >> bill: can you specify the threats that soleimani posed against american forces? >> no, that was an intel-based decision and it saved american lives. that is what's important. i think a lot of people are now questioning the intel area that's really unfortunate. a lot of people are saying, "to what benefit?" i would answer that question. the benefit is to be saved american lives. received members of the military, we saved diplomats, and a lot of families from having to welcome their loved ones home in a coffin. >> bill: how long will you keep it private? >> that is not up to me or the members of congress are being briefed tomorrow. they will get to see that. i imagine some of those details will leak. again, there's intel that just can't be made public because it's for national security. >> sandra: obviously the coming minutes, hours, days, everything matters when it comes to the president's next decision with all of this. what does his schedule look like? who is a meeting with and how is he coming up with his next move?

>> secretary grisham: he is being briefed all of the time. he started to his national security team all the time he also is continuing on with the job of the president. he's going to meet with the greek prime minister today, and he's got other things he needs to be doing. but he's being briefed constantly. he's on top of everything. the country should feel good that this president is not going to let anything happen to anybody. >> bill: many republicans, i would say, have supported the move. with the exception of rand paul. in the last hour he told us diplomacy, the possibility of it, is now dead. to them you say what? >> secretary grisham: i don't know if i agree with that. the present is welcome to talking to iran with no preconditions. i did see him speak, and i will say that we saved american lives. there is nothing we could have done. the alternative was to, what, not save these people? then what would people be saying to us? what would congress be saying? what would nancy pelosi be saying? that we sat by and let something

that happened to our american troops are american diplomats. again, we saved lives here. that was the number one most important thing for this president. >> bill: i know you won't go far on this, but i will try and push again. was there a deliberate decision to kill him when he was in a row, or would you have made that same decision had he been in damascus or even tehran? >> secretary grisham: i will see what the president has said, we caught them red-handed, in the act. it was a targeted strike that illuminated the number one terrorist in this world. countless lives have been saved. not only by catching them in the act for what he was going to do, but who knows what he was going to do in the future? he was not going to stop targeting americans. >> bill: but were you waiting for him to come back into baghdad? >> secretary grisham: that is not something i'm going to get into. >> sandra: how was the president responding behind closed doors to some democrats, digesting the president made this move to distract from impeachment? >> secretary grisham: it's not surprising, but he is staying focused. the democrats will be happy with

everything we do, absolutely anything. they should be celebrating that this president took such decisive action to save their americans. many of whom they represent. again, there is nothing this president can do that will make them happy. it's really unfortunate it's turning political. this is not political, this is not a gain. this was about american lives. >> sandra: what is the president's biggest concern when he weighs his next move? >> secretary grisham: of course, collateral damage. and people being injured. he's going to have to keep that in mind. the president has such difficult decisions to make on a daily basis. for three years now he has been very, very careful, which i think should show that this was an imminent danger to some americans. that is why he acted so decisively. he is very careful and very thoughtful, and he weighs all of his options very carefully based on intel and with his national security team tells in. >> bill: stephanie, what do you say to american men and women serving overseas as to what they should brace for? and what direction have you

given them? >> secretary grisham: what we say to them is thank you, as always. we say thank you for your bravery and thank you for serving your country. we have every confidence in them. we have the best military in this world. we've got the best soldiers. all five branches of the military are fantastic. they are brave, we thank them for what it is they do every single day. >> sandra: you know, the president expressed with rush limbaugh and a new interview that there was knowled intelligence that would have rendered doing this sooner, even in past administrations. what is he saying about that? >> secretary grisham: yes, president obama designated him a terrorist and the nothing was done. in fact, he just sent him cash. there probably were missed opportunities, but there is no need to look in the past. we are looking ahead at what we are doing in this administration. the president is focused on what he's doing now. again, he took decisive action and there was a targeted strike that took out a very, very bad man. a murderer. somebody who targeted americans

constantly, had many plans to kill americans. >> bill: lets move from iran to impeachment. nancy pelosi sent out this tweet yesterday saying, "the president and senator mcconnell have run out of excuses. they must allow key witnesses to testify so americans can see the facts for themselves." "the senate cannot be complicit in the cover-up. #defendourdemocracy. "told all my jumbles and said he would respond to subpoena and testify for comes to that >> secretary grisham: the articles of impeachment have been sent yet, so we can't even start talking about who or if he will testify. if john bolton or anybody else will be witness. i will tell you the irony, one of the articles of impeachment is obstruction of congress. i would argue that nancy pelosi is obstructing by not sending the articles over. >> bill: i apologize, we are going to interrupt this and pause for stations across the country to join us as mike pompeo is now there at the

podium. there he is, the secretary of state. >> i want to express my condolences to him, his service to america was noble. as a member of congress we worked together on pro-life issues during my time in congress. if you have questions about the middle east and iraq, i will certainly take some questions today. first i want to offer my condolences to the people of australia, for the tragic loss of life and property caused by the devastating wildfires across that region. america stops in pairs with those putting themselves in harm's way, and the same goes for the dozens of u.s. firefighting personnel standing side by side australian friends fighting together. when i was in sydney just this past summer, we have a truly unbreakable alliance. they are great friends. we are happy to be able to help the aussies in this time of need. in asia, we know the appointment of the new head of the hong kong

chinese central government liaison office, he has expressed hopes that hong kong will return to the "right pass." the right path, as i've said before, is for the chinese communist party to honor its commitments made to hong kong in the british joint declaration filed at the united nations. a commitment that guarantees the independent rule of law and freedoms that the chinese living on the mainland unfortunately do not enjoy. we will continue to work with hong kong and the chinese communist party officials to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in hong kong, and to promote their high degree of autonomy. in afghanistan, there is an aspect of that conflict that deserves more attention, and that is the islamic republic's involvement there. iran has refused to join the regional and international consensus for peace, and is, in fact, today actively working to undermine the peace process by

continuing its long, global efforts to support militant groups there. most people know about iran's proxy networks in the arab world, but the regime also has a relationship with the taliban and related groups such as the tora bora and other groups. the taliban's entanglements in iran's dirty work will only harm the afghanistan peace process. a couple items here in this hemisphere. in venezuela, i want to thank and congratulate juan guaido on his reelection. a legitimate reelection by a quorum of 100 deputies. the campaign of arrests in the definition and bribery could not derail venezuela democracy, nor cut its use of military force to physically bar the national assembly from the parliament building. i applaud how their political parties came together to support the reelection. the united states will continue to support president dido and the venezuelan people, and we

will continue to rally all of your freedom-living nations across the globe to do that same thing. we support the villa swim people because we believe the western hemisphere should be a e freedom everywhere. i also want to highlight the work of the oas, which has been an instrumental tool in moving the region in that direction. it's an example of a truly outstanding multilateralism. secretary general is the leader we need to continue proactively addressing the central challenges facing the region. promoting democracy, upholding human rights, advancing security, and fostering economic develop mixer out. have more to say about the multilateral form in the coming weeks. on the theme of basic freedoms, i want to commend members of bahrain's council representatives for their january 2nd statement in which they expressed deep concern over the inhumane and painful conditions to which uighur muslims in china are affected.

they're committing mass human rights violations and abuses to those held in detention. i am happy with what bahrain did and we ask all countries, particularly those belonging to the organization of islamic cooperation and the arab league to denounce the brutal treatment, which is part of the project on my parties brought a war on as you know, the prime minister is in town this week. i'm looking forward to welcoming them today. we will be at the white house alongside president trump. i will also announce that david hale will be traveling to brussels later this week review of conversations with 28 european counterparts. this is a recurring meeting that happens about every six months. this particular gathering is important because it immediately precedes and e.u. foreign ministerial on iran that has just been scheduled. it shows come too, once again,

our close cooperation with european partners on issues of mutual concern. the issue of iran and iraq will feature prominently in their conversations and they will have an opportunity to discuss priorities such as syria, north korea, and china, as well. finally, one more personnel matter. i want to think about star john bass, who have come to know as my time in service, now secretary of state. his tour of service in kabul wasn't markable. that's one of our most important missions. the ambassador is the structured strategicthinker. a man of integrity. he is help the country moved to a more peaceful and secure future for all the afghan people. i want to welcome our new 11 investors and two ambassadors at large confirmed since the end of november, including stomach including investor sullivan committing up to russia before too long. we hope to have more follow them out to the field. with that, i'm happy to take a few questions. >> reporter: happy new year,

mr. secretary. in honor of the new year i have exactly 2020 questions to ask you. i will pare them down for the sake of brevity. one, there continue to be questions about the nature of intelligence that led to the strike that killed general soleimani. can you be at all more specific about how immanent this was? what exactly it was? secondly, why not allow foreign minister zarif to come speak at the security council? lastly, as the situation in iran have any contribution to your decision not to run for the senate in kansas? thanks. speak up thank you. lest one is easy. i said the same thing yesterday that i set for months. no real news there. i'm going to stay serving as secretary of state so long as president trump shall have me. you can accuse me of being a consistent, but not on that one.

[laughs] second, we don't comment on visa matters. those traveling here to the united states on visas. i can't add much more to this issue about foreign minister zarif's travel to the united states. i will say only this -- we will always comply with our obligations as the u.n. requires, the headquarters agreement, and we will do so in this particular instance. more broadly, every day. finally, there has been much made about this question of intelligence and immanence. i answered it will pull times on sunday. i'm happy to walk through it again. at any time he present makes a decision of this magnitude, there are multiple pieces of information that come before us. we present that in all its broad detail. all the best information that came out come only from the intelligence community, but for those who have teams in the field. we evaluate the risks and the opportunity that we thought might is not itself at some point. we can see clearly, not only not only habits of the money done all the things we have hundreds

of thousands. enormous destruction of countries like lebanon and iraq, where they've denied them sovereignty and the iranians have denied people in these countries sovereignty, independence, and freedom. this is all soleimani's handiwork. we will see with continuing the terror campaign in the region. we know what happened at the end of last year in december. ultimately the death of an american. if you're looking for immanence, you have to look for the days that led up to the strike taken against sulla soleimani. we are continuing efforts on behalf of this terrorist to build out a network that would lead to the death of many more americans. it's the right decision. we got it right. the department did excellent work. the president had an entirely legal, appropriate, and this was

a decision that fit perfectly within our strategy and how to counter the threat of maligned activity from iran more broadly. >> reporter: mr. secretary, two questions, if you don't mind. iran's foreign affairs minister zarif granted an interview saying that soleimani was on a diplomatic visit to iraq. that the u.s. try to take him out was "state terrorism," that president trump has prepared to commit war crimes, that iranians are enraged. that's the first question, i would like a reaction to that. second question, president trump has indicated that iran's cultural sites could be targeted. is that true? are the on the target list? if so, do you consider that a war crime? >> so... let's see. zarif's statement. his first statement, that soleimani was traveling to baghdad on a diplomatic mission, does anybody here believe that? is there any history that would indicate that it was remotely

possible that this kind gentleman, this diplomat of great order, qassem soleimani, had traveled to baghdad for the idea of conducting a peace mission? i made the reporters left this morning, that's fantastic we know that wasn't true. we not only to the history, we know in that moment that was not true. zarif is a propagandist of the first order. most of what you have suggested in his text message or email or message that you laid out there was indeed remaining propaganda. it's not new. we've heard these same lies before. it's fundamentally false. he was not there on a diplomatic mission trying to resolve a problem. i know there is some story that he was there trying to represent and aside peace deal i will leave to the saudis with the contents of the messages maybe, but i can assure you they were share my view but he's not there representing some kind of agreement that is going to reduce risk or reduce the risk to lives of americans when he was on that trip. your last piece was about

cultural sites. i said on sunday, i will reiterate it again. every target that is being reviewed it, every effort that is being made, will always be conducted inside the international laws of war. i've worked on this project, and i'm very confident of that. >> reporter: it's an election year, and you are now facing two nuclear-related crises in iran. are you optimistic about resolving either of those without blowing up, so to speak, inopportune moments? on the dutch neurons break a time when you came to office is considered to be about a year. is it no longer or shorter? >> i will leave it to the intelligence team to talk about iran's breakout time for a moment. but president trump could not be more clear.

on our watch, iran will not get a nuclear weapon. as we came into office, iran was on a pathway that have been provided by the nuclear deal, which clearly give them the opportunity to have those nuclear weapons. we won't let that happen. as for the first question, which was more broadly, what president trump laid out his national security strategy with respect to north korea and iran. it's the strategy we have executed for this for the past three years. we have put iran in a place that is has never been before. they've had to makes a very difficult choices. choices about how to pay for and underwrite their proxy militias around the region, whether and how to build out the missile program. this is a flip from where we were eight years before. it's not political. the previous demonstration made a different choice. they chose to underwrite and appease. we have chosen to confront and contain. those are different strategies. we believe ours is successful, and we ultimately believe it will be successful making iran behave like a normal nation. we will deny them the capacity to build out their nuclear

program and threaten not only americans and our lives, to keep americans safe, our mission set, but also to create and enhance stability throughout the middle east. we are confident that's the case. north korea, would you ask about, we still are hopeful that we will be able to head down a . i was here with you on to temper some time and there was lots of talk about what might happen at the end of the year. we have not seen that yet. we remain engaged and hopeful that we can have a conversation about how to get the denuclearization that chairman can promise to president trump back in 2018. i will take one more. >> reporter: thank you very much. mr. secretary, two quick things on the soleimani strike. since the trump administration withdrew the united states from the iran nuclear deal about two years ago or so, the trump administration has said repeatedly that is pursuing against iran a maximum pressure campaign. first question, the soleimani

operation -- was that part of the maximum pressure campaign? >> to the second one? maybe just ask -- i will tackle them both. >> reporter: to her knowledge, was any legal counsel in the executive branch consulted for his or her input surrounding the legal aspects of the strike prior to its execution? >> i will leave it to others to comment on that, but i can say as a pattern of practice that i had never seen as an administration engage in an activity of this nature without a thorough and complete legal review of what the bases would be if the president made a serious decision. often the lawyers review all of the options being presented. in advance of them being presented, such that every option presented has been fully vetted through the legal process. i'm confident that was the case here, although i don't have specific knowledge of that. i'm confident that was the case. second, you ask about the scope of the strategy, and the maximum pressure campaign that we've had

in place. it has a diplomatic component, an economic component, and it's had a military component. what you have seen over the course of these past -- may 2018, when we withdrew from the iran nuclear deal, you seen is execute that with enormous vigor and energy. you've seen it diplomatically. he built out coalitions around the region. with the israelis, with the gulf states. on the missile file on on the terror file with our european partners, as well. much as the e3. go back and look for may of last year, will look at the statement made in warsaw. the united states centering the instability of the middle east on the islamic republic of iran. the coalition now in the strait of hormuz, diplomatically isolated the iranian regime. second, economically, we've seen the sanctions put in place, over some thousand sanctions. we watch the regime struggle to figure out how it was they would make it through 2020 they've got

a budget that will fall short by a significant amount in 2020 as a direct result of the pressure we've put on the regime. then you've seen over not just this past week but over the last year, our security component to this. you've seen us to reinforce allies in the region by ensuring the emirates and saudis and all the others were prepared for what might happen if iran decided to make choices that were bad for the iranian people. the new sound more tactically these last few days the president's response when the iranians made a bad decision to kill an american. we hope they won't make another bad decision just like that one. >> reporter: the soleimani strike was part of the administration maximum pressure campaign, and going forward, the iranians should understand as they develop their calculus that similar actions such as the soleimani strike could well continue to be a feature of this maximum pressure campaign? >> i think the president has been unambiguous about the

remarks he made down in florida as well as the tweets he's put out about the seriousness with which we take this. the risk attended that we are deeply aware of, the preparations is made, and our determination that in the event they make another bad choice, the president will respond in the way he did last week. decisive, serious, and messaged iran about the constraints were going to place on that regime so that it does not continue to put american lives at risk. in the end, our iran policy is about protecting the homeland and securing american life. i know the efforts we have taken, not only last week with the strike against soleimani, but the strategy we have employed, has saved american lives. i'm highly confident of that. i will take one more. andrea? yes, ma'am. how are you? >> reporter: thank you very much. the issue of cultural sites -- the president set on air force one coming back, after you had been on the sunday talk shows, that they are allowed to kill her people, they are allowed to torture and

maim our people, they are allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people, and we are not allowed to touch the cultural sites? it doesn't work that way." defense secretary esper has made it clear that he would not follow an order to hit a cultural site, which would be a war crime. i'm wondering whether you would also push back, and your role. >> you are not really wondering, andrea. [laughs] you are not really wondering. i was unambiguous on sunday. it's completely consistent with with the president has said. we will take every action we take, consistent with international rule of law. the american people can rest assured that's the case. let me tell you who has done damage to the persian culture -- it's not the united states of america. it's the ayatollah. if you want to look at who has denied religious freedom, if you want to know who has denied the persian culture -- rich and steeped in history and intellect, they denied the

capacity for that to continue. they have not permitted people to celebrate. they have not allowed people -- they have killed. that qassem soleimani killed. they have not allowed them to go more in their family members. the real risk to persian culture does not come from the united states of america. there is no mistake about that. thank you, everybody have a good day. >> bill: that is the message from mike pompeo there, the state department, four headlines here. entirely legal and appropriate act, that's how he characterized the killing of the commander last thursday night, friday morning. the claim of a diplomatic mission on his trip to baghdad that night. the secretary paused and said, "does anyone here believe that," he went on about these cultural sites. a couple questions on that. "any response will be contained within international law." then one question on nukes. the nuclear program in iran. "we will deny them the capacity to build out the nuclear program."

pretty straightforward. mike pompeo wrapping it up. stay with this fox news channel and the fox nation you are watching now for continuing coverage on the story and everything that moves throughout the day, always online at foxnews.com. until then, i am bill hemmer here in new york. and now we continue on cable. >> sandra: bret baier joining us now. you were listening to every word from the secretary of state, began speaking about 20 minutes ago. when asked to detail the intelligence, behind what was described as the "imminent threat that led to the taking out of soleimani," secretary pompeo talked about multiple pieces of information. how did he do at describing as far as he cut the detail behind that? >> sandra, good morning. democrats on capitol hill will say it fell short. there's a lot of this about the planning, as far as we know, that is still classified. it will be briefed to house and senate lawmakers starting today,

this afternoon, to the gang of eight. then tomorrow to the house and senate behind closed doors. that said, his basic point was it wasn't like soleimani was on peace missions throughout the middle east. he was stirring up the pot and he was, they believe, directly behind the attack on the u.s. embassy and the killing of the american contractor, and the shooting of the saudi oil facility. the refinery. basically, an actor that caused a lot of turmoil throughout the middle east. he's been in the sights of the u.s. for a long time. he was labeled a terrorist back in april of last year. pompeo is laying out the case, but not in specifics that i think democratic lawmakers are going to ask for. >> sandra: we certainly could hear more of that when congress was brief yesterday. stephanie grisham from the white house reference back to that. what else stuck out to you? he was also asked about the visa being denied to zarif. he said no comment on visa

matters, but we always comply with u.n. requirements on that. he was asked, as bill mentioned, but the cultural sites being targeted. he responded that any target would be within international laws. broadly speaking, bret, when asked about the overall decision to take him out, he said the president had legal basis, and this worked perfectly within their strategy i don't like. >> i do think he lays out a picture of something that was planned and talked about for a long time. not that it was shooting from the hip, sudden. it sounds like pompeo is laying out the narrative that it had been in the works for some time. i also found it striking that he said the decision not to run for senate in kansas had nothing to do with the current situation with iran, and the situation he finds himself in. we definitely know that he was seriously considering making that run, and just on a political basis, that does leave a hole for republicans that they have to scramble to make sure

they fill. it's small potatoes in the big picture we are dealing with today. >> bill: bret, we will bring in the democratic congressman in the moment. this has been debated for some time now. on pompeo's point, "we will deny them the capacity to build out a nuclear program." what are you hearing in washington and from the pentagon as to how far they are willing to go to try and prevent that? if you believe the word from tehran over the past 24 hours, that they are ready to go for it and could have a breakout moment within 12 months? >> well, the u.s. and israel are on the same side of preventing the separate from happening. we will see where their european allies are push comes to shove. the asse estimate of seven to 11 months, if they go full steam we centrifuges. the popularit possibility to gee other way, like purchase it somewhere, is also out there. the president and the secretary of state are making clear that the u.s. cannot, will not allow iran to have a nuclear weapon.

that then leads to, how do you prevent it? usually it's war. >> bill: we will see later today as we mentioned, democratic congressman ro khanna, from california. good morning to you and thank you for your time. there's a lot of debate over this. what is your position now as we gauge the fallout from last friday morning? >> soleimani was clearly a bad guy who had american blood on his hands. but the president should not have taken an offensive action against iran without coming to congress and seeking congress' authorization. that's what we are arguing, that the president has to come to congress before getting us into further military conflict. speech congressman, what struck you from what we were able to hear from the secretary of state, mike pompeo, a short ago?

>> it's a very volatile situation. the concern is, what if iran retaliates against american troops or american interests? we would then have to take action and have a proportionate response. this could get us into another middle east war, where american lives are at risk and trillions of dollars are wasted. china hasn't been in a war since 1979. we are now in over 40 conflicts. the middle east is 3.5% of the world economy, and my concern is that america should not be getting into another war in the middle east. >> bill: if you had a situation, as mike pompeo just described, if you had a situation that ambassador o'brien described earlier today, the national security advisor, where you allowed soleimani to plan and plot, and now you are looking in the depths of many more americans in iraq -- if you have a chance to act and did not take it, what would be your position then? >> i don't believe that was the

case. secretary pompeo has not said the attack was imminent. he has not said when it would be taking place. he has not said where it would be taking place. in my view, take out the militias that are actually going to conduct that attack on american troops. of course the president has the right to defend our troops and american lives -- >> bill: with respect, sir, you are offering that response without seeing the evidence itself. we novembers of congress will see later today and again tomorrow. >> i am open to seeing it. i think the burden of proof is on the administration. when you take action without congress and is on the administration to justify that this was in self-defense -- here's my concern, soleimani was a terrible actor. i can see it, he had american blood on his hands, he's killed hundreds of americans. but does anyone think that iran is not going to replace one bad guy with another bad guy? my view is, how is this making is any safer? >> bill: maybe that next bad

guy will think twice before they start their trips from tehran to baghdad, to damascus, to beirut, down to sanaa in yemen. joe lieberman asked this question this yesterday -- he said, "why can't 2020 democrats admit that soleimani's death makes american safer?" go ahead and answer that, sir. >> because i don't believe it does. i think it will increase the attacks on americans. it'll increase the amount of people who are going to hate americans, and it's going to perpetuate the cycle of violence. i believe soleimani was a terrorist who was a bad person. that doesn't mean that the escalation of violence is what the right policy is. i believe the right policy does not have a maximum pressure campaign, but to have a cease-fire so we can focus on building our country and competing with china. >> sandra: i think it goes back to week dominic will be contending to hear, the question be on the intelligence of the decision to carry out this attack. most of those questions are coming from the democratic party. i want to just share with you a

word we just got from a gaggle from general milley on soleimani, the imminent attack, as it's been described, from the administration and secretary of state mike pompeo a minute ago. he was planning, coordinate, and sinker rising significant operations against military forces in the region, and it was imminent." do take them at his? >> the question is, what is seen by imminent? was at days, weeks, months? was going to take place? was the capture of soleimani a better solution? did he really have to be killed? and we have killed some of the militia on the ground we were going take the attacks? i do not in any way doubt this president's right to self-defense. obviously, the president has the right to strike if american troops are directly and arm. but i don't think that killing soleimani was defending against an attack that was taking place that justifies not come to congress. >> bill: he knew what he was

doing for 20 years. the bush administration knew it, the obama administration knew it. >> and they chose not to strike him for a reason. i don't think anyone would argue that president george w. bush was weak on the war on terror. his reason he and dick cheney decided not to attack soleimani when they had the opportunity. they thought it would escalate violence in the region and not be in american interests. i think that's the case. frankly, if the president came to congress and said, "look, soleimani is responsible for american deaths come i want to authorize the beacon go after an iranian official responsible for american deaths." if you got that off harrison's atomic authorization, it would be one thing. he has not done that. those who believe in article one of the constitution believe it's congress' decision whether to declare war or not. >> sandra: meno democrat's are pushing to restrain the president's military actions as we go forward, and the president plans his next move with iran. how far do you want to see that go? >> i want to make it clear of

the president should not have funding for offensive strikes against iran or iranian officials without having authorization from congress. i want to put one point in perspective for viewers -- the or east economy is 3.5% of the world economy. our competition is china. there at 15%. i want us to be focused on winning that battle, not getting bogged down in another war in the middle east. the president campaigned on that. >> bill: would you can see that there's a possibility hear that things go quiet for a time? >> i would be very happy if that were the scenario. i hope that will be the scenar scenario. i hope there won't be an escalation of violence, and i see that could be a possibility. i think every american hopes that's the case. >> sandra: the president took on former president barack obama in an interview, saying, "knowing what we know today and knowing what had been going on, there was an opportunity before

to take out soleimani." do you think there was any missed opportunities in the past that would have prevented iran from getting to the point that it did? >> i do not, because this was not just barack obama. the reporting i've seen said president george w. bush and vice president dick cheney also passed on the chance to take out soleimani. and the reason they all passed as they didn't want to escalate a war with iran. i believe the president obama had the strategy of the jcpoa that would prevent iran from becoming nuclear. there was this instance. we didn't have protests, the killing of american contractors. americans were safe at that ti time. >> bill: 's are come if i could come in the minute we have left, want to turn to impeachment. to support nancy pelosi holding back these articles, and to what end do you think the strategy is played out this way? >> i think she should transmit

the articles at some point, but when we have a fair trial. >> bill: did you have no opportunity on the outside? >> i think the house was fair. justice roberts, a bush appointee, should make the rules. it shouldn't be nancy pelosi or chuck schumer, it shouldn't be mitch mcconnell. let justice roberts make the ruling of who gets to testify and how to do it. >> bill: but justice roberts can't do a thing until the articles are turned over. do support her holding onto these? >> i think once mitch mcconnell makes it clear that justice roberts will do the rules, we should transmit the articles. but i expect her to transmit the articles. i don't think she will continue to hold onto them. it's obviously her decision on the timing. >> bill: if you expect that, what are you hearing? is it days, weeks? >> i don't know. that would be pure speculation. i do think she will transmit them. and i think what she wants is for people to testify. jumbled and has said he is willing to testify. i think if mitch mcconnell tomorrow were to say that we would hear the witnesses, we would transmit them tomorrow. >> bill: to be fair, house democrats could have done that.

you have had a court challenge, but it would have been extended ten months, maybe a year in advance from now. doesn't that suggest that the process was put on hyper-speed in order to go ahead and finish up the impeachment and turn it over to the senate during a campaign year? >> i think what should've happened as john bolton bolton should have offered to testify a month ago. i don't know what change. frankly, the house should climb into testify. if he's willing to testify in the senate, testify to the house, why don't we just get john bolton and mick mulvaney to testify and hear what they have to say and get this over with? i think that is the sticking point. if the president hasn't done anything wrong, he should be okay with having -- >> bill: last point on this, then. the longer she holds articles, how much damage does that do to the democratic party? >> i think the longer this goes on, it's hurting the country. that's my concern. we need to be unified as a country. let's get this over with and have a fair process.

i don't think it's unbiased to say that chief justice roberts, a republican appointee, should set the rules. if he sets the rules, you won't hear me objecting to any of his evidentiary rulings. speed congressman, we appreciate your time. thank you >> bill: more to talk about, we shall get to it on a busy tuesday. yet again, after this. ...that is certain. but history tells us that economies don't live in a vacuum. we need to prepare for uncertainty. and you can... with rosland capital - a trusted leader in helping people acquire precious metals. call rosland capital today at 800-630-8900 to get started. gold bullion, lady liberty gold and silver proofs, and our premium coins, can help you preserve your wealth. call rosland capital at 800-630-8900 to receive your free rosland guide to gold, gold & precious metals ira and silver brochures. with rosland, there are no hassles,

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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. >> his first statement that soleimani was traveling to baghdad on a diplomatic mission -- anybody here believe that? is there any history that would indicate that it was remotely possible this kind gentleman, this diplomat of great order, qassem soleimani, had traveled to baghdad with the idea of constructing a piece mission? i made you reporters left this morning, that's fantastic. we know that wasn't true. when not only know the history, we know in that moment that was not true. soleimani is a propagandist of the first-order. >> sandra: joining us now is

dan hoffman, former cia station chief and a fox news contributor. we all listen to secretary of state mike pompeo at the top of the hour, briefing reporters, taking questions. what did you take away from what you just heard, dan? >> i think we need to remember that our national security interest is not related to economics. it's about isis. there are two threats to iraq's stability and sovereignty, it's isis and iran. if iraqi sectarian politicians and military leaders whom iran supports that have disenfranchised sunni -- that's where al qaeda and iraq and isis began, back in the insurgency days of 2003, 2004. now what we are trying to do is stave that off. there is a real battle going on for iraq's political future. their prime minister is a caretaker right now. i can say from my own experience, i served in iraq for a year. we spilled a lot of blood and treasure there. what matters to us is that isis

doesn't regain a foothold and use that ungoverned space to target us in that region and beyond. >> sandra: a lot of what you are saying right now is in response to what you just heard from the democratic congressman, ro khanna, a short time ago. who, in addition to talking about the economics and looking more toward china, he said should be the focus. what do you say in response to him, when he questions the lack of intelligence that is being provided to members of congress so far on what was behind the attack and the eminence behind the attack? >> i'm quite sure he will receive the intelligence he needs. i think our elected leaders might just want to go and rewind their television a little bit to a couple of days back when these proxy militias were penetrating the perimeter of our embassy. at the behest of soleimani, with militia leaders like the head of

the body require and the head of kataib hezbollah orchestrating the tax. that's a clear and present danger to our sovereign territory in iraq. there's a litany of soleimani-sponsor toxicants us in the region against our allie. i fail to understand how anybody would think it served well by soleimani no longer being able to -- >> melissa: that was from mike pompeo, to go to him directly, "you need look no further than the days that led up to the strike." >> right, i think that is self-evident. >> bill: a couple things here. a question to the end, i think it came from a former colleague here at fox about whether or not this is, to paraphrase his question, is this the shape of things to come for the iranians if you are finding more maligned activity? in her line of work, is that what you would expect here?

>> i can tell you what the intelligence community is doing. he got a constant full-court press collecting intelligence on anyone planning attacks against the united states. we are on full alert for iran and our proxies. if we determine that iranian leadership, if soleimani's successor is indeed seeking to launch attacks against us, he should understand, and my estimation -- i'm not speaking for a government -- that he is n our cross hairs. i think that's the point of our change in strategy to induce a change in iran's calculus for what they think they can get away with presoleimani's targeting and postmortem. i think that was a seminal moment in our foreign policy, and that, frankly, unfortunately i think it's being lost on some of our elected representative. >> bill: interesting. on the nuclear issue, "we will deny them the capacity to build out a nuclear program." what would that entail if they get close with the next year? with his administration do, dan? >> that is a restatement of our

policy. it's pretty clear. there are three ways to deal with their nuclear program. it's the same as the challenge we face with north korea. you've got diplomacy and military options, a full wide range of them, as well as economic sanctions. the concern is that iran may seek to build out their program. they may seek to purchase nuclear material from other countries. remember, it was north korea who built that nuclear plant in syria, which the israelis destroyed in september of 2007. for sure, we are making a clear policy statement to the iranians here. iran, for their part, has said they are still open to negotiation. they are not pursuing a weapon yet. they will still talk to the europeans. the president of the united states has said there is a and offer them for negotiations. these are trying times, for sure, but you said let's look at things shake out and see where we are in a few days. maybe the weeks ahead. >> sandra: dan hoffman, former cia station chief, fox news

contributor. we appreciate your time, thanks for standing by with us. thank you. and big news about this time yesterday from former national security advisor don bolton, who said he will now comply with a subpoena and testify before a senate impeachment trial if that happened. does that happen? bret baier, we will ask him. he joins us next., e would be -- snacking should be sweet and simple. the delicious taste of glucerna gives you the sweetness you crave while helping you manage your blood sugar. glucerna. everyday progress 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. >> man: what's my safelite story? i spend a lot of time in my truck. it's my livelihood. ♪ rock music >> man: so i'm not taking any chances when something happens to it. so when my windshield cracked... my friend recommended safelite autoglass.

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>> the house speaker is trying to run the united states senate. she's trying to hijack the trial. she's trying to obstruct the trial. the senate has the power to try the case, and it's time for the senate to fight back. >> bill: josh hawley reacting a speaker pelosi holds articles of impeachment. we want to bring back bret baier talk about this a bit, get a sense of what's happening in washington. the house comes back today, pretty much so. we'll get an indication sometime later this afternoon as to what's up next. as of the best clue we have at the moment? >> [laughs] yes. whatever nancy pelosi says, really, is the clue. i think you heard from your previous guest, the democratic congressman, that there is a little uncertainty about timing. it really does fall into where her head is on strategy. i think what you are seeing from josh hawley, the republican senator from missouri, and others is to try and force the issue. all these questions about whether witnesses would be allowed, whether john bolton now

will come forward because he says he wants to -- that he was testify with the subpoena. but romney saying that he would be open to that. but then you have others who have said something previously like that the witnesses would be good, like lisa murkowski from alaska, who then met with mitch mcconnell and said, "you know what? lets wait until after the opening of this senate trial and then make a decision about witnesses. that's a win for mcconnell. he doesn't have four republica republicans. >> bill: there are cracks in the g.o.p. unity. other cracks or not, then? >> i think it's early to tell that. i think you have some statements that suggest they are open to witnesses. they are calibrated. they are couched. both lisa murkowski, susan collins, cory gardner, mitt romney, they have all said something about being open to it

and want the process to start. the process doesn't start until nancy pelosi sends over the articles of impeachment. >> sandra: what is the more likely scenario with that, bret? with a minute left to go. she sends this over in the coming days? or hangs onto them after iowa and new hampshire -- >> the going bit here is that it does happen in a couple of days. as the battle back and forth looks like they are not moving mitch mcconnell offer he is. tonight on special report we have trent lot and tom daschle, who have dealt with the last senate impeachment trial. they will talk about maybe what's happening behind the scenes, and if congress can get anything done while all this going on. >> bill: my sense is that this crack in unity has been overblown. we'll see if that's the case or not. cory gardner said, "you guys want to have a trial by twitter." the senator from colorado. >> sandra: bret, thank you.

we will see you tonight, 6:00 p.m. six bomber jets the middle east as tensions rise in iran. armed service committee member joni ernst joins us next. and once you refinance, the savings are automatic. thanks to your va streamline refi benefit, at newday there's no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. activate your va benefit now. one call can save you $2000 every year.

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granted. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >> sandra: fox news alert on the u.s. showdown with iran. secretary of state mike pompeo wrapping a briefing with reporters a short time ago on the strategy going forward. welcome back to "america's newsroom." i'm sandra smith. >> bill: good morning, i'm bill hemmer. secretary pompeo making it clear iran will not develop a nuclear weapon on his watch. also defending the strike that took out the regime's top general, qassem soleimani. >> any time a president makes a decision of this magnitude, there are multiple pieces of information that come before us. we've presented that to him in all its broad detail and we could see clearly that not only had soleimani done all the things we have recounted, hundreds of thousands, enormous destruction, we have watched to

see what's continuing the terror campaign in the region. if you're looking for imminence, you need to look no further than the days that led up to the strike that was taken against soleimani. >> sandra: fox coverage and i with john roberts live at the white house. first to national security correspondent jennifer griffin come alive at the pentagon for us this morning. jennifer, good morning. >> good morning, sandra. secretary of state pompeii was under continued pressure to prove there was significant justification to order the killing of qassem soleimani. in his press briefing moments ago, he did in providing new evidence that it was imminent come of it talks iran's involvement in afghanistan and support for the taliban's network, which is baffling and an exaggeration at best given that pakistan is well known to be the main force backing that network. pompeo also scoffed that any notion that soleimani was on a support don't like to panic mission to dog bed. >> anybody believe that?

is it remotely possible that this diplomat agreed order, qassem soleimani, had traveled to the baghdad for the idea of conducting a peace mission? soleimani is a propagandist of the first order. >> he was referring to iran's foreign minister, the u.s. is refusing to give him a visa to visit for an upcoming security council meeting. the u.n. is on high alert now that soleimani's mourning period is coming to an end. after the top leaders vowed revenge, the u.s. is moving forces into the region. six air force b-52 bombers have deployed from louisiana to diego garcia, to be on-call if needed should iran launch any drone or missile attacks against american forces the joint chiefs chairman will be on call tomorrow for classified briefings. >> i will be happy when the time comes, in front of the proper committees and anybody else, i will stand by the intelligence i

saw that it was compelling, it was imminent, and it was very, very clear. he was planning, coordinating, and synchronizing significant combat operations against u.s. military forces in the region. it's imminent. >> top pentagon officials said the u.s. is not leaving iraq come after a marine general suggested otherwise. >> bill: meantime, the trump administration getting ready to brief the gang of eight later this afternoon on the killing of the military commander. meanwhile, stephanie grisham with us last hour. she shared the president's biggest concern when he weighs his next move militarily. >> collateral damage, and people being injured. he's going to have to keep that in mind. the president has such difficult decisions to make on a daily basis. for three years now he has been very careful.

which should show that this was in imminent danger to americans. he is very careful and thoughtful and widows options very carefully based on intel and what is national security team tells in. >> bill: john roberts on the lawn with more now. good morning. >> good morning to you. a couple of big briefings this week. first of all, tomorrow the full house and senate will be briefed by the secretary of state, defense secretary, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and the cia director. it will be members of the intelligence community itself who are going to brief the gang of eight later on today or just to refresh you as to who the gang of eight is, it's the leadership of the senate on the house as well as the chairs and the ranking members of the senate and house intelligence committees. the central focus of the briefing will likely be classified intelligence that the u.s. says it has indicating that soleimani was plotting attacks against american targets. democrats have questioned whether there is indeed evidence to back that up, and if called

to declassify the war powers notification sent to congress after the attack that killed soleimani. this morning, the national security advisor, robert o'brien, insisting that the proof is there even if the administration can't talk about it publicly. listen here. speak of their strong evidence and strong intelligence. unfortunately we will be able to get into sources and methods at this time. i can tell you it was very strong. >> bill: despite new threats of rotation overnight from iran, the white house continues to insist that there is less dangeo the united states with soleimani gone. robert o'brien asked this morning if the u.s. was more or less safe after the attack. here's what he said. >> i think we are more safe. over the past four months, the two greatest terrorist threats in the world have both been taken off the battlefield. i think that makes us safer, and in fact we've been congratulated and told privately by world leaders from every region of the

world, they've reach out to congratulate us. >> we are also going to hear from the president later on this afternoon, in the 2:00 hour. he welcomes the prime minister of greece, curio christmas at talkies. we will appear with him in the oval office where we will get a chance to ask a few questions. we are the tv pool today, so i will be in the oval office and we will throw out some questions. if you got anything you want to ask, just pass it along. >> bill: keep your email open. john roberts there. sandra? >> sandra: speaker nancy pelosi and house democrats preparing to vote this week on a resolution curbing the president's authority to take more military action against iran. joining us now as jon summers, formic munication structure for senator harry reid. matt schlapp, former white house particle director. thanks to both of you for being here. i might as will establish for us to where you stood on the decision to do that. jon, to you first. >> there's a lot of information we don't have. we are hearing more public stevens today. we really just need to find out what we are able to find out, and he declassified information

about what actually went on. there will be a lot of information we won't know. our hope is we can believe the administration, that this was something that was indeed necessary. at the same time, it is up to congress to act as a check on the president, live up to the war powers act that was passed in the '70s, and make sure they uphold and maintain their congressional authority to be the ones to declare war if it ever comes to that. speed that's more than some of her democratic colleagues would say. some were judging it before they had even seen the intelligence behind the decision. not? to you. >> i hope she rest in pieces. i sent with the 600 dead americans as blood hands. i think the world is a safer place, just like the national security advisor said, without baghdadi and soleimani. we've essentially been at war with iran since the carter

years. we never recognized this terrorist regime. and every step the president can take her to put in ground troops in iran to keep a safer, i will applaud loudly. >> sandra: that concern was shared by stephanie grisham when she joined us a short moment to go from the white house. she also said this on the presence decision to take out soleimani. >> we saved american lives. there's nothing we could have done. the alternative was what, to not save these people? then what would people be saying to us? what would congress be saying? would nancy pelosi be saying? that we sat by and that something happened to our american troops or diplomats. again, we save lives here. that was the number one most important thing to this president. >> sandra: we believe that they are and see what happens next with all of that. of course, congress will be briefed short time from now. john, i want to move on to impeachment. what i've been stuck with all of that. jumbled and made big news about this time yesterday saying that he would testify if he was

subpoenaed. what happens if that happens? >> i don't think will happen, because mitch mcconnell has already told us, unfortunately, he's too afraid to examine any evidence or call any witnesses. so unfortunately i don't think this is going to change his position, mcconnell's position, at all. i do think it's incumbent now on the house democrats to issue subpoenas to have both an testify in the house. and let's see what he says. i think it's important for two reasons. one, we will see how sincere he really is. it's one thing to say you are willing to testify in front of the body that will never ask too. it's another thing to answer to a subpoena from the outside liberal democrats. on the view from support is we need to hear from john bolton. there's already plenty of evidence out there. but john bolton has a lot more to offer in terms of direct evidence that i think would be important to have in the congressional record. speed mitch mcconnell making

it clear, matt, that his position that requests for witnesses should be addressed after the trial begins. chris coons shared a similar message to john bolton testifying. here he is. >> if you're not interested in hearing from national security advisor john bolton, you're not interested in getting to what happens. my hope is that we will welcome this late but important testimony. >> sandra: matt, will that happen? >> i personally have no problem with anybody testifying. there's only two people with direct evidence of what happened between the ukrainian president and our president. the ukrainian president in our president. everybody else, including those who listened in, got a glimpse. for those folks who listened in on the conversation with the president and the president of ukraine, we have the transcript. everyone who can read across the globe can see what transpired. we also have a lot of other witnesses testifying you didn't

witness anything, having more people, witnesses along those lines, does not shed any more light onto this. this being said, i'm fine with a big, full trial on the senate about what's happened with ukraine and america over the course of many years, including the tail end of the obama administration. let's talk about how we leveraged and had quid pro quos over our foreign policy in order to force the ukrainian government to do things. like fiery prosecutor. if there is nothing to that charge, let's get to the bottom of it. but i think the bracket that hunter biden and joe biden have put us all through should be highlighted, and the democrats, they are politicizing and gamesmanship over all of this should be part of it. >> sandra: nothing happens of the articles her hands over, right? >> that's true, but it's important for matt to remember

that the bidens are the ones on trial here. that it's the president who has been impeached. so i think that's an important thing for us -- >> he hasn't been impeached, and that's wrong. >> sandra: he has been impeached in the house. hold on, i want to move on to 2020 and impeachment and how this all plays out. john dominic jon, some house democrats are pushing for apology dominic -- they are worried they go by, don't have any big wins to tout. is that a concern? i will cite josh got a hammer, new jersey he's in a trump district. he would like the house to pass infrastructure legislation before sometime in the beginning of the year. before the end of next year. >> they need to look out for the issues that are important in their home districts. i think every elected official should be looking for accomplishment's they can talk about at home. that's what we like him to do. fortunately we have been able to

get some things done. there was a bill that was introduced by house democrats to cut down on these robocalls that we all get every single day, multiple times a day on our cell phones. that was one of the few bills that mitch mcconnell allowed the senate to actually vote on and pass. the president signed into law a couple days ago. we have been able to get things done. i think it's unfortunate that mcconnell is sitting on so many bills that the house has passed. i'm willing to even have debates about them because we should be delivering for the american people. >> sandra: let matt have a chance to respond. go ahead. >> i love this. you are going to run to keep a majority in the house of representatives and to pick up the senate majority, to pick up the white house over stopping robocalls come with both parties agree with preserve is the chairman of the ftc. this is what the problem is. if that is what you have accomplished, stopping robocalls, you've got a pretty pathetic bumper sticker reelection strategy. >> how about lowering

prescription drug costs for americans? >> sandra: it we are not just talking but one issue. jon, let me ask you. the longer this drags out, does this hurt your party? >> i don't think it does. we are able to talk about the accomplish once we've been able to make. >> robocalls! >> sandra: hold on. >> let's also talk about lowering perception drug costs. that sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk. let's have a debate about it. but the senate refused to do that. mcconnell brags about what he has called his legislative graveyard. speed this issue of impeachment, would it behoove nancy pelosi for her party to hand over those articles of impeachment sooner than later? what needs to be the strategy? we are in an election year. to you first, then match. >> okay, well, we are waiting to hear from you, but whether he's willing to have a fair trial. hear from witnesses. i know, it's so painful, isn't it, matt? >> i want a fair trial! >> to listen to evidence and testimony, things you typically have a child. i know that bothers you, because

we know what the facts are. >> let me go through both these questions. prescription drug prices have come down under president trump while they play politics. i would love to have a trial. it's the story of this shakedown system the bidens set up so hunter biden could get personally rich. i have no trouble with anybody testifying, because we have the transcript. everybody who can read can see it. there is no "there" there. it looks like politics, and in november, it's going to be extreme. speeds let me put the quota from josh gottheimer since i saved tm early. "i think that's why the trade agreement was important. i think that's white state and local tax deduction legislation was so important. why our health care package was important." i will have to leave it there,

but i will take final thoughts from you, jon. do you share in these concerns? >> again, every member of congress should be able to go back home and talk about the compliments they've made. house democrats have been able to get a lot of things done. hopefully mitch mcconnell and senate republicans will allow some of those important bills to be heard and voted on in the senate. >> sandra: to you, matt. final thought. >> i think we can do better than stopping robocalls. the reason we have a dysfunctional congress is nancy pelosi in the hands down like democrats are focused on destroying president trump's ability to be reelected. they should be able to focus on those issues that come from the house majority. but they will listen to me, they will stay on impeachment. i think we will have impeachment throughout the year. i think for the president it will accrue to his political benefit. >> sandra: we will leave it there. it was a debate, and it happened here. thanks to both of you. appreciate it. >> bill: we are at in last hour, secretary of state mike pompeo reacting now and the crisis with iran as u.s. forces

remain on high alert after new threats from the regime inside tehran. the pentagon deploying six b-52 bombers to a base near the middle east. iowa republican senator joni ernst, a member of the armed services committee, will join us live with her reaction as to what is possibly next. >> to idaho children missing since september intensifies as one family member now pleads with her mother to cooperate with police. we will have a live report on that situation next. >> a typical hubble. the weird thing is there was no warning signs. there is something going on here. there is nothing. they are very nice, very friendly. ance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of 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.

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chad daybell's ex-wife was found dead in her home on friday. the police and fbi teams searched the daybell home looking for forensic evidence related to the disappearance of lori daybell's two children and

the "suspicious death" of chad daybell's ex-wife. police say the daybells of refusing to cooperate in either investigation. on sunday, lori daybell's oldest son, colby, posted a video to youtube appealing to his mother to help. >> i want you to really think about what's important right n now. what is actually important? what do we need to do? i am over here worried and thinking about tylee and j.j. i want you to end this. i want you to end it. for everybody. for the kids. >> the daybells' attorneys say they have done nothing wrong. sing in a statement, "chad daybell was a loving husband has the support of his children in this matter. lori vallow-daybell is a loving mother and resents assertions to

the contrary." chad daybell, by the way, as an author of a series of self-published apocalyptic novels. lori daybell, according to court documents filed in a previous divorce case, believes she is eternally married to the mormon prophet eyed. local media in idaho have reported that the two maybe part of a fringe religious cult. the two children are still missing and police say they don't know if those two are dead or alive. ville? >> bill: thank you, jonathan. "the best. >> sandra: john bolton saying he is willing to testify at a senate impeachment trial if he is indeed subpoenaed. will that happen? plus, the u.s. bracing for any retaliation from iran. what could that look like? we get into all of this with a senate armed services commander joni ernst. she will join us next.

speak at the top that off can we know killed one of their major generals. i think it is the death of diplomacy, and i see no way to get it back started again until the revenge dog revenge of the iranian people are somehow sated. i hate that this is where we are going. d save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker? i look around this room and i see nothing but untapped potential. you have potential. you have-oh boy. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. [ gunshot ] [ multiple gunshots ]

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>> we have put iran in a place that has never been before, where they've had to make some very difficult choices. this is a flip from where we were eight years before. it's not political. previous administration made a different choice. they chose to underwrite and appease. we have chosen to confront and contain. those are different strategies. we believe ours is successful. >> bill: some of the major headlines read last hour. mike pompeo at the state apartment, iran morning it's top general today, killed in the u.s. air strike last friday morning. earlier today, more than 50 iranians trampled to death in the generals' hometown prior to burial. the pentagon boosting military

presence in the region. joni ernst, iowa republican, member of the armed services and judiciary committees. we have a lot to get you over the next few minutes. good morning and thank you for your time. >> thank you so much, bill. >> bill: we been trying to figure out for many in the know, including yourself, we're anticipated response would be next as to what you think what happens next. as you sort through your own thoughts and talk to people, what is that answer? >> you bet. we will learn more tomorrow when our leaders come to the hill and bryson in the house. secretary pompeo put it quite clearly earlier. general soleimani is a terrorist, a thug, he has enabled proxies all around the globe in the killing of americans and other allied forces. i see great celebration. in his death, i'm glad he is gone. i believe the world a safer place.

>> bill: did you see this report from "the new york times"? about suggested the supreme leader wants to put the response -- not through their proxies throughout iraq or lebanon, or syria or yemen, but actually do it with iranian troops? >> that report is very interesting, because iran has operated for so long using proxies. do they have the wherewithal to actually face down america with its own troops? i don't know that. they have been escalating for decades now, targeting american troops. again, leasing the death of hundreds of americans. american soldiers. we just saw a contractor that lost his life. we have seen that for decades now. for them to actually stand up and say, "we will face down america with their own troops," i don't know that it's possible right now. i don't know that they can

afford it, actually. and i'll at war with the united states of america. it's not some regrets he can come either the president has stated quite clearly that he doesn't want to see war with iran. he is shown great restraint, and he has finally decided to act. i support him fully in his actions. >> bill: senator rand paul is with us two hours ago during our 9:00 program here. he said diplomacy is basically dead. i don't know if there was much diplomacy happening yet, but first here is the senator from kentucky on that. >> foreign policy can be based on killing everyone who we believe is evil or bad in the world. there are thousands and thousands of such people. we are to look at the ramifications of what comes next. the ramifications of this killing will be more killing and that it's really prf having any kind of diplomatic relations with iran. it was already difficult before this, now i think it's impossible. >> bill: what is your response on that, senator? >> i wasn't say it's impossible

the killing has been happening very much one-sided coming from iran and general soleimani so far when it comes to american troops. again, this president has shown great restraint with the escalation you seen from iran in the past number of months and years. finally he said enough is enough. we have to protect american lives. he did that by taking out the very man that had enabled so many proxies around this globe. again, i think today the world is a safer place. >> bill: i want to talk about impeachment now. i don't know what's next in this and i'm sure you're probably wondering, as well. perhaps we get a better idea later today when the member's house come back to work here in washington, d.c. however, john bolton said he's willing to testify via subpoena in the center trial. what is your view on that? would you like to hear from him? yes or no. >> one step at a time. we don't even have articles of impeachment right now. speculating on witnesses and who might come forward, i think that

is getting the cart and of the horse. i think nancy pelosi, speaker pelosi, needs to get her act together. she on the squad need to send those articles of impeachment to the senate and we can take appropriate action once they hi. to go beyond that right now, it's all speculation until we actually get a trail going in the senate. >> bill: you are considered one of these vulnerable republicans that could be in for a tough reelection fight. i don't know what your view is on that, or the people in iowa, what they are telling you. would you vote to dismiss the articles once they arrive? >> well, i think we do need to go through the trial process in a timely manner. i do support josh hawley's resolution, that if speaker pelosi, again, doesn't get her act together and give those articles to us, then they should be dismissed if we don't see timely action on that. however, when i'm back in iowa, when i'm out of the grocery store, and even when i was at

church over the holiday season, people were coming up to me very, very disgusted about what the house has done and what speaker pelosi is doing now. such an urgent matter for the house to get rid of president trump, and now speaker pelosi is just sitting on those articles. so evidently urgent disposal of the president was not needed. i do believe we need to have the trial process, he needs to be fair. >> bill: but if it's delayed, you will vote to dismiss? >> i am in that group, i'm a cosponsor of that resolution. i do believe he needs to be done in a timely manner. the speaker should be sitting on those articles of impeachment. it's not up to her to decide how a trial is run in the united states senate. that will be up to chuck schumer and leader mitch mcconnell. >> bill: senator, thank you for your time. i'm out of time now, we have some breaking news. we'll be come back. jr's, republican from iowa.

>> sandra: fox news alert, please taking fotis dulos into custody on charges he may face still unclear on the side. they say he maybe charged with the murder of his wife, jennifer dulos, who was killed back in may 2019. laura ingle has been on the story from the beginning. she's here on the speaking of elements. >> we are getting this news and torah newsroom just now, that fotis dulos has been taken into custody at his home in farmington. this is the very home we just visited on december 20th, where we had an extensive interview with him. we talked about financial trial that he was involved in. and just mere weeks, here we are, watching him be led out of his house in handcuffs. his attorney has just given a press conference saying he has not seen a warrant, but that it's for the crime of murder. he says credible sources tell him that two others are being

arrested today, as well. local reporters who have been following this case along with us are treating now that two of those people are the girlfriend, michelle troconis, and another attorney charged for conspiracy with murder. we have not been able to identifindependently verified t. this has just happened in the last about 30 minutes. there are local cameras who are on the scene they are in farmington, connecticut who have watched this transpire. we been watching on the local remote feed, watching it all unfold. we have been told that he is being held on the $6 million bond. he will remember jennifer dulos, his wife, she had been in a long-suffering 2-year to divorce and custody battle. they have five children between them. she disappeared on may 24th after dropping her children off at school at 8:05 a.m. that was the last time anyone saw her alive.

police releasing search warrants long before, stating they believed he was lying in wait in her home in new canaan. we have been hearing that this could be coming, and here we are today, starting off the new year with fotis dulos in custody. we are awaiting more details and will bring them to you as soon as they become available. >> sandra: a major police presence at the home of fotis dulos in connecticut, laura, you've been there. he reported from there. you just interviewed fotis dulos himself at the home. so much of this was about money, remember. there was a loan given to him by his estranged wife's parents. the mother, i believe, that lived in new york. just take us through this little bit, and what you learned sitting down with the man who is now being charged. >> you know, gloria farber, who has custody of the five children now in new york city, had sued and for back loans. millions of dollars that she says he owed her late husband, who had given millions of

dollars to his construction company to help him move that company along to great success. after hilliard died, gloria farber, jennifer's mother, said, "you still owe us millions of dollars." he claimed, in fact, "i don't owe you money. in fact, you owe me money for construction work i did on behalf of the family." that's what he was willing to speak to us about on december 20th in his own. the civil case had just wrapped up. of course, there's been a gag order in the criminal investigation of the disappearance of jennifer dulos, his estranged wife. he couldn't talk to us specifically about that. i did ask him in the interview, as we sat on his home, in the front entrance of his home, i asked him, "did you have anything to do a jennifer's disappearance?" he said he couldn't comment due to the gag order. i asked him if he knew where she might be. he also cited the gag order. remember, after that in early june he was spotted in hartford,

police say throwing away bags and bags of evidence. they say they went through his bags and from the remnants of bloodied clothes and plenty cleaning supplies that they say they tested and matched dna to jennifer dulos. that's when he was arrested on tampering with evidence charges. again, michelle troconis, his girlfriend who was spotted with him and those vehicles come according to police, dropping off those bags of evidence. they have now apparently -- they are either going to arrest her or she is being arrested now. so we are continuing to follow that part of the story as well. huge news in this case that we have followed so closely since the mother of five went missing in may of last year. >> sandra: no sign of jennifer dulos. on that breaking news' arrest, laura ingle, thank you. >> bill: the lawyers have told us about the case that we've been following here, that unless you have a body, it's a very difficult time with the case. >> sandra: thousands of tips in this case that never turned up any actual evidence. we will see what developments are happening. >> bill: we will see if there's a press conference. in the meantime, new controversy

over the vaping ban. why critics say the american people could be lose on this. >> sandra: plus, to shrink the work week. i would you feel about a four-day workweek and a six hour day, at that? captain for weigh in on all of it when we go beyond the headlines. ♪ ♪ here's record-breaking news for veterans.

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>> bill: they learn from that mystery in connecticut, the code stomach attorney from the estranged husband of long time us in connecticut mother of five says his client has now been arrested on charges of murder. his name is fotis dulos. we've been watching the story since back in may. we are awaiting more information out of connecticut from police there. standby for that, will get it to you when it becomes available. dulos we go beyond the headlines and take an in-depth look at some of our other big headlines, including vaping. these new cat temp joins us now. kat, good morning to you. you take this on in the very personal in a new piece. you save the vaped ban is what happens when people legislate what they don't understand. what don't they understand? >> you can look for an example of how it's treated differently over in britain, where it is accepted as a thing that can

help people to quit smoking. these laws are in response to the media hysteria surrounding the vaping illnesses and deaths. anybody who had actually done the research would know that this was due to thc vapes, particularly black market vapes. banning nicotine vapes of certain flavors isn't good, according to public health and good study, it's 98% more effective than smoking. it'll lead people to go back to cigarettes because there's not going be as many options for vaping involved. it's actually a net negative for public health. when i see these kinds of arguments and these kinds of bands, it reminds me that a lot of times you hear democrats want to ban ar-15s but they think it stands for assault rifle and not arm a light rifle. >> sandra: when we read a piece in reading pretake this on a very personal way, when a government passes laws based on the emotional winds of public

australia rather than statistical fact, the american people lose. you put out a very important aspect all this. dr. siegel comes on our program to talk about this all time. he is still a fan of the transition from secret smoking. what is not a fan of is the industry coaxing teenagers into starting vaping. >> i agree with it. i vaped. i know it's not good for me, right? i know it would be better if i was breathing clean woodland air. i know that it's not good for me. experts are saying that making is less available or banning these things is going to lead more people to smoking, which is worse for you than vaping. this is a net for public health, based on the hysteria's remedies illnesses and death, due to thc and not nicotine. >> sandra: in an interesting perspective that you share. we talk about that in the medical field, as well. fins per mr. has an idea. work less! of make us all healthy and feel

better. she is pitching that for her country, for their citizens to have a four-day workweek and not only that does work only six hours a day. can that work and still have a healthy economy? >> i am very against this. one of the examples they decided on what it work is japan tried something similar. they failed to mention how microsoft accomplish that, which was an insane work environment where you had to leave your phone in your bag at work. what if you have a good hair day and you need to take a selfie? you need to break to play candy crush? whatever mental health improvements you to have by the fewer hours or days at work, i'm pretty sure would be completely decimated by having to do with your boss breathing down your neck all the time. that would be enough to make anyone miserable. >> sandra: she says this is the next step for us in working life. we will see how that turns out for them.

kat, thank you to you. >> bill: we've got to get back to this breaking story, connecticut, fotis dulos in police custody. that has not been confirmed by connecticut state police, expected to be charged with murder in -- for his missing wife, jennifer dulos. we are hearing that from fotis' attorney, as well. new details when you come back after this. aks that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. 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. ♪ it's a lifelong adventure finding all of these new connections all the time. greater details. richer stories. and now with health insights. get your dna kit at ancestry.com.

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>> bill: this is breaking now, fotis dulos in custody, expected to be charged with murder for his missing wife jennifer. fox news analyst, good day to you, there are some intriguing elements to this case, laid out as you see it. >> there are two very intriguing elements to this case. there is a charge of murder without a dead body. fotis dulos is charged with tampering with evidence, that is hiding the body from the police. under connecticut it is difficult but it is possible unlawful to prove guilt of murder without having a body. the other aspect is the conspiracy to commit murder. we don't know all the characteristics, but not only dulos but his girlfriend and his former attorney, this is really unheard of, will be charged with

conspiracy. normally, when there is conspiracy, the government takes the weakest link amongst the conspirators, offers that person a deal, and get them to testify against the other two. i suggest it would be this former attorney. >> bill: i could be the case, now we don't know. >> correct, we will find this out shortly. >> bill: if you don't have a body, what charges in the case with regards to evidence? >> that allows police to go forward with the arresting. you need tremendous forensic evidence, that is technical, medical, physical, evidence which you would normally get from the body. normally you would have a medical examiner examine the body. here's a stab wound, here is how she was choked to death, here's the scrapings of flash under her fingernails. do you want to have any of that, so you need a tremendous forensic team of detectives who are also scientific. >> bill: armada suggest you need a witness who is willing to talk. >> that would be the strongest thing this case could have. v

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>> all right, it's that time of morning. >> sandra: some of her last days days together, bill. fox news alert, fotis dulos, the husband of missing connecticut mother jennifer dulos is now in custody and charged with murder. that is according to his attorney, jennifer dulos first went missing in may of last year after dropping her children off at school. both dulos and his girlfriend had previously been charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. we will have more on this developing story throughout the hour. >> another fox news alert, new fallout from the u.s. air strike that killed a