l the house sends the articles of impeachment and chuck schumer and nancy pelosi said the articles won't be sent. so there is no path forward here that we can see. >> thank you. that is all in for this evening. rachel mad ow starts right now. >> thanks for joining us this hour. it all came to light in 2011 in october of 2011 with this indictment in federal court in the southern district of new york. and with this surprise mid afternoon news conference from the u.s. department of justice, a news conference attended by both the attorney general himself and the fbi director at the time as well as u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york and other justice department senior officials. the plot that they described at this news conference and the plot that was described in that indictment was so over the top it almost didn't seem serious.

it was such a like low rent, bad action movie juvenile plot that it was hard to square with the sort of seriousness with which it was presented. i mean, the scheme that they laid out was this. there was a drug cartel, a drug gang in mexico. and the dea, drug enforcement administration to a certain extent had infiltrated this gang. the dea at least had informants working for them who were living and working as members of this gang but secretly reporting back to the dea on what was going on which is interesting in terms of a law enforcement drama prospect, right? but one day in may of 2011, one of these guys who was secretly working for the dea as an informant inside this drug gang,

he made arrangements to talk to his dea handler and told the handler something that felt like it was visiting from another planet. it was a plot from a totally different movie, something that was seeming totally off the wall for what was already a dramatic situation. the case began in may when a drug enforcement administration informant told agents of a bizarre conversation. he had been approached, he said, by an iranian friend of his aunt's in corpus christi, texas. the friend had a proposition to hire the drug cartel to carry out terrorist attacks inside the united states. wait, what now? which movie is this? over the christmas break, susan and i went to the movie theater to see little women because we're middle aged lesbians, it's

mandatory. we are in a theater next to star wars. we saw little star women wars. it was definitely the best iteration of both movies. this was kind of the same thing. this is two totally different action movies crammed into the same thing. i thought this was the movie of the infiltration of the drug gang. no, it's the iranians hiring the drug gang to carry out terrorist attacks in the united states. both movies squashed into one. the guy who everybody thinks is in the drug gang, he in real life has an aunt in corpus christi. and his aunt has a friend, an iranian guy who i kid you not is a used car salesman, 56 years old. he told everybody to call him jack. he sold hondas and acuras from

what was patra disorganized car. otherwise, he was literally a random used car dealer in texas named jack and a wife named esprawnsa. jack had a friend who it turns out had a nephew who everybody believed was in this terrible drug gang. he was secretly a dea informant inside the drug gang. and the way he laid it out is that his aunt's friend, jack, came to him because he thought he was in this drug gang and tried to hire him to do something absolutely unbelievable. >> an alleged $1.5 million plot to aassassinate saudi arabia's ambassador by blowing him up in an undetermined washington

restaurant and bombing the saudi embassy in washington. officials tell nbc news a second plot was totarget israel's in washington. a co-conspirator named in the indictment remains at large, but the administration says iran's government was behind it all. >> iran's government was behind it all but involves this texas car dealer and mexico and a drug -- what? i mean, this all happened in the fall of 2011. and it hovers somewhere between superscary and almost laughable. on the one hand, there is the somewhat used car salesman accidently making contact with the dea informant inside the mexican drug cartel. when he tells that guy of all guys is that his cousin is a big deal in the iranian military and

his cousin and colleagues have conveyed to jack, the used car salesman, that they'll pay good money for him to arrange for an assassination and a few strategic bombings to be carried out on behalf of the nation of iran and could he arrange for the mexican drug cartel to do it? in the proposed deal, the drug gang would set off bombs at two foreign embassies in argentina, the embassy of saudi arabia and the embassy of israel in argentina and bomb the embassy of israel in washington, d.c. and according to the plot, they would kill with a bomb the saudi ambassador to the united states while he was eating dinner at a restaurant in washington, d.c. so that's what the dea handler for this informant hears from his informant. the dea hears of this proposal

from, you know, aunt's friend, jack. it's like what do you do, if you're a goo i -- comes to you and says i have been made an offer, offered this proposal. it's a little bit outside my wheelhouse. i didn't think this is the kind of thing i was here to work on. but with the blessing of the dea, he basically goes ahead with it, goes back to jack, the used car dealer guy and says i got to talk to a few guys, but this seems good. let's go ahead with it. the u.s. government totally knows about it. the fbi obviously is brought in. they know about this from the earliest stages, because its the dea informant who has been approached with this proposal because the fbi is in on it, the u.s. government knows what's happening, they are allowing this plot to go forward, but they are monitoring it, all the subsequent meetings and calls

with the car salesman guy, jack, are all recorded. as outlandish as the plot sounds as bizarre as the plot sounds, it kind of checks out. each step of it just keeps advancin advancing. the used car salesman guy and the guy who is supposedly in the drug gang, they agree that the price to carry out the bombings will be $1.5 million. the guy who is supposedly in the drug gang says he needs some of the money up front and it comes through. jack, the used car salesman guy comes up with a big chunk of the money, wires about 100 grand in two separate money transfers to this guy who he believes is in the drug gang. the feds are able to follow the source of that money and indeed it checks out. they say the account from which those funds originate is in fact

linked to iran, linked to the revolutionary guard in the iranian military. remember jack, the used car salesman said that he had a cousin in the iranian military. turns out he actually does. he has a cousin in iraq. and the fbi is monitoring him every step of the way as he proceeds with this outlandish plot and it just keeps checking out. jack the used car salesman guy travels to iran where he meets with his cousin who really is in the force. he meets with another official, as well. he stays in touch with his contact who he thinks is this guy in the mexican drug gang. and the drug gang guy tells him that they are going to do it, but will need 100 grand. they will either need more money up front or some oerlt form of collateral before they go ahead because they want to make sure they get paid.

jack says okay i can do that. the priority here is to get this done and fast. he tells them i'll be your collateral. i am in iran meeting with my cousin and this other guy who is directing me to do this. i'm going to fly from here to mexico to meet you. you can have me, jack, the used car salesman. you can have me physically as collateral as proof of our intent to pay. and you can keep me physically until you carry out this assassination and i make sure you get wired the rest of the money and at that point you can let me go. and that's how they are going to proceed. in fact, he does it. the used car salesman guy flies to mexico city. of course, the u.s. government is recording all of these communications and following him every step of the way. they give the mexican government a heads up that this guy is flying in. the mexican government denies the guy entry and says you will

not be allowed to enter mexico. you have to go back to where you came from but we made it convenient for you. we will fly you back to iran but we have to fly you through a route that just has a real quick layover in new york city. it's just a logistical thing. it will be a quick stop. just a little layover. of course, they specifically routed his return trip through jfk airport in new york city because waiting for him on the tarmac was the fbi. grabbed him off the plane, arrested him and charged him with serious stuff, murder-for-hire, international terrorism. the guy initially pleads not guilty, but soon changes his mind where upon the justice department was able to crow about what he admitted to in this outlandish plot. quote, in connection with his guilty plea, admitted that from the spring of 2011 to the fall

of 2011 he conspired with oilsh ifs in the iranian military who are based in iran to cause the assassination of the saudi arabiaen ambassador while the ambassador was in the united states. he acknowledged that at the direction of these co conspirators he travelled to mexico on multiple occasions in order to arrange the assassination of the ambassador. he also admitted that in connection with this plot, he was recruited, funded and directed by men he understood to be senior officials. he said these officials were aware of and approved of the use of his contact from the drug cartel in connection wlt plot as well as payments to that person. also, they approved the means by which the ambassador would be killed in the united states and the by stander casualties that would result. he met several times in iran with a co-conspirator and iran-based member of the force as well as another official

where he explained that the plan was to blow up a restaurant nlt united states frequented by the ambassador. he also explained that numerous bystanders would be killed. the plan was approved by these officials. in conjunction with this criminal case, that named member of the force, he was also criminally charged by the u.s. department of justice. also in conjunction, the u.s. treasury announced new sanctions on officials including the long-time leader of the force. with consequences that remain to be seen to put it mildly. now, at the time this bizarre plot was unveiled in 2011 and into 2012 when the guy finally

pled guilty, it seemed as nuts then as it does now. as i'm recounting it it seems -- it's the iranian government, this elite military force using some guy to contact a drug cartel to take money from the iranian military to blow up these embassies and kill an ambassador in a busy d.c. restaurant and that kind of high risk complex operation they're pulling off through these guys. really? the secretary of state at the time named hillary clinton told the associated press in an interview about this plot and about these criminal charges, quote, nobody could make that up, right? the fbi director at the time, you may recognize him, you saw him there at the press conference announcing the

charges, he said at the press conference that yes this seems like the plot of a hollywood movie. national security reporters at the "new york times" who were recovering the story put a finer point on that analysis by saying this didn't just seem like a hollywood movie but seemed like a tquinton movie. they couldn't figure out what to do to make of the plot. reporters kept getting experts saying things like this was extreme and very odd, but it was also very sloppy. experts describing this as a high risk, low yield maneuver. quote, it is sensational. it is odd. and if it is true, it is very provocative on iran's part. one expert calling it simply baffling that iran's force would

actually be involved with a plot this baroque and ridiculous. but you know what? in modern history, in the last decade, this is what we've got in terms of our american concrete understanding about whether the force had actually developed the ambition and any capability to project force in the united states in that kind of a way, to carry out assassinations inside the united states and bombings inside the united states to benefit the government of iran. of course, that plot as laid out in that criminal case was as surreal as it was anything else, but now that recent history suddenly is the closest thing we've got to an answer to what is now a very pressing question that is on the minds of millions of americans tonight which is what are iran's capabilities? what kind of force can iran project if they do want to

inflict maximum damage on americans? if they want to exact maximum revenge from the united states and its people. it's taken very seriously for a reason. they stood up various militia forces and military forces that have kept syrian dictator bashar al assad in power in syria all of these years despite all the odds stacked against him. they stood up the army that was such an adversary for u.s. troops fighting in the iraq war for years. iran has exerted incredible influence and control and military reach beyond its

borders through irregular warfare, through training, through the provision of weapons and terrorism and political influence. over the course of decades in some cases all master minded through the force which was run for the last 20 plus years by the man just killed by u.s. forces yesterday. and so now, of course, the iranian government is vowing revenge in the most dramatic possible terms and everybody in the world is expecting that they mean that. and against that serious and sobering international track record that we know in terms of the way iran has been able to project force and terror around the world particularly using the capabilities, i mean, the actual evidence that we've got of their past effort to mount a plot here in the united states really is this ridiculous plot where the code name for the assassination was chevrolet because they

figured he'd always be talking about chevrolets, never mind that he sold acuras and the drug cartel dea informant and the guy -- every step of the way he's being watched and recorded and all on the tape and being watched from the beginning and from the very first instance it was just a matter of months and the fbi was in on it every step of the way. i mean, the bad news from this history is that we've got evidence from within the past 10 years of what appears to have been an effort by iran using operators to try to kill people and blow up embassies and have an assassination in the united states of america, in our capital city. the good news about it is that was their freaking idea, which was ridiculous. how do we square our realistic

sense of the types of threats we have now invited with this action that has now been taken by the u.s. government? how do we understand that as civilian americans and what a war with iran might look like and what that means for us and our country? i mean, we can understand some of the risks and things that might happen in short order in terms of what's close to iran. there is the geographic choke point where iran has frequently demonstrated its ability to use conventional military force and threats to strangle the flow of middle eastern oil. in june of this year, we saw iran shoot down a u.s. surveillance drone. we've seen international oil tankers harassed and delayed and attacked. washington post tonight reports in some sobering detail about what's believed to be iran's

capabilities when it comes to cyber war. iran's cyber troops long have been among the world's most capable and aggressive, hacking oil companies and trying to take control of a dam from afar while stopping short of the most crippling actions. the american air strike now threatens to unleash a fully unshackled iranian response warned analysts and former u.s. officials. hackers with ties can hijack crucial machinery over the internet at a new york state dam whose control systems they penetrated in 2013 or they can target sensitive diplomatic targets over social media platforms. in october, microsoft accused a group tied to the iranian government of attempting to identify, attack and breach

personal e-mail accounts associated with the u.s. presidential campaign. the messaging from the u.s. government at this point is not going to help you get a realistic sense of the risk that has now been incurred and of what else might happen next year. it's all over the place and bears all the hallmarks of the trump administration communications. the president making public remarks about the killing in which he said the action was to stop a war, not to start one. okay. which war? the defense secretary has been briefing u.s. allies abroad about the action after the fact which is much less valuable to them than briefing them before the fact given that they are as likely to incur reprisals from iran as we are. and we obviously knew about it in advance because we did it, but we didn't share that information with our allies so they could harden targets and

protect civilians. a number are making that dissatisfaction known. around the time that mike pompeo was insisting that the u.s. is committed to de-escalating the situation with iran. that's why we assassinated their number one military commander. we got word first from the reuters news service that there has apparently been yet another new u.s. air strike also in iraq also targeting pro iranian forces. nbc news chief correspondent richard engel is in iraq and notes this is not the sort of news you would expect if the u.s. government were pursuing de-escalation and tying the reported air strike to an event tomorrow. iraqi security official tells nbc news there has been another u.s. air strike north of baghdad, reports of six killed this right before a big protest

tomorrow in baghdad. it seems certain to provoke an escalation. richard engel is going to join us live next from northern iraq. but thousands more u.s. troops are being sent into the region as of today. u.s. civilians today were told to get out of iraq immediately. former u.n. ambassador and former u.s. national security adviser susan rice will join us live momentarily tonight. this is a time of profound uncertainty, but in terms of assessing the risk and thinking about who is in danger, thinking about americans newly on the front lines tonight in a way that they weren't before the government was vowing severe revenge against the united states for this killing, just consider that whatever you think of us here at home and our risk here, there are thousands of americans right now, american

service members right now tonight as we speak in iraq and in syria and in qatar and kuwait and united arab emirates, thousands of american troops there. and for us here at home, honestly, it is very hard for us to have any sort of realistic understanding of whether here in the u.s. we should worry about being within the reach of the kind of retaliation that iran is threatening now. but it's not an abstract or hypothetical or sort of extrapolated concern for all of these thousands of americans who are serving in all of these places who we know tonight are absolutely within reach of the kind of proxy forces that iran has been cultivating in the region for decades. and that, of course, really makes you hope that somebody has thought this thing through to the second order, third order of consequen consequences. there is no reason for us to have confidence in that, but there is reason to hope for that. much more to come tonight.

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i don't use some waxy cover up. i use herpecín l, it penetrates deep to treat. it soothes moisturizes and creates a spf 30 barrier to protect against flare ups caused by the sun. herpecín l. it does more for a cold sore. after the u.s. air strike that killed the head of the

force, people marched today burning u.s. and british flags, holding photos shouting anti-u.s. slogans. you see them burning an iraily flag. tens of thousands of people in the streets. iraq's supreme leader visited that hometown, vowed that there would be in his words harsh revenge for the u.s. killing. iran has the right to respond to the killing at any time and in any manner. there were reports from baghdad of new u.s. air strikes targeting an iranian-backed militia. richard engel notes in response that this new attack with six reported dead comes on the eve of what's expected to be a big protest tomorrow in baghdad saying it seems certain to provoke an escalation.

richard engel joins us now from northern iraq. it is great to have you with us tonight. thanks for being here. >> reporter: it's absolutely great to talk to you on an important night. i was listening to your introduction. i think you and other people are sitting back scratching heads saying what did we just get into? what did president trump just provoke? what's going to be the response? you laid out that case. cuds force is not very good at that thing. it is not the kind of organization that blows up shopping malls or carries out attacks in the united states. it just isn't really built for that kind of thing. it doesn't really project power in that kind of way. what it does do and what it is exceptionally good at is finding allies in the region, operating in its own territory, operating

specifically in the middle east, but reaching out very specifically to a sub-set of groups within the middle east, forging alliances with other groups. so it's very powerful, but it is also very specific. so it was able to forge this alliance in lebanon with hezbollah. but it needed help. it needed expertise. iran was there to embrace it and nurture it. that was his role, his special purpose in the world. also, the government of syria also has very close relations. there are a lot of -- the -- saw that the government of bashar al assad was weak, needed help, formed this relationship in syria, a very powerful

relationship, in iraq where the majority of people are shiite naturally found an ally and set up very, very deep roots. there are shiite in parts of afghanistan. where iran is powerful is where it had natural allies, and the concern is now those natural allies are going to use this moment to fight back, to defend their former patron in this much larger region. when people are looking out now and they're saying what just happened? what did we do? the danger is i don't think so much that there is going to be a massive attack in the united states against civilians. there could be attacks against u.s. military, against u.s. diplomatic facilities. but much more likely those attacks would take place in the region, destabilizing attacks to

try and drive american forces out of this region, because that really is what this is all about. iran does not want to have a big american presence in iraq which after all at the end of the day is right on iran's border. so the danger, the real risk is that we're going to see further instability in the middle east with the u.s. dragged into yet another war. president trump has said time and time again, he wants to get out of wars. by doing this, while it might feel good to a lot of people and has plenty of american blood on his hands, he was responsible for helping orchestrate a campaign during the most intense days of the iraqi campaign that killed hundreds of american troops. but was it the smart thing to do? or will it just inflame a cycle of violence? with that preamable, not good at

using drug car tells to kill the audi ambassador at the italian restaurant in washington, not so good at that, very good at leveraging its power in the middle east to go work against u.s. interests particularly when there are lots of shiites in the area. that's why tomorrow watch what happens in baghdad, because these same militia whose have been nurtured and trained are going to go out on the streets, and they're going to be protesting in two neighborhoods starting around 7:00 in the morning. one of them is a strict neighborhood where they hold protests all the time. it's not likely to come into conflict with anybodyential, because the only people in the area are american shiites. the other neighborhood is right

across from the green zone, right across one bridge from where the u.s. embassy is. and the u.s. embassy now has been operating on orders, strict orders that if anyone approaches the embassy, the troops inside there will respond with force, will respond potentially with deadly force. that means if they're attacked, they're going to start shooting at people. and tomorrow those militias who, again, were attacked tonight, first their patron was attacked, then those militias were attacked. they're going to be out on the streets tomorrow. they're already upset. now they have been hit twice and will be protesting in two locations, one of which is right across from the u.s. embassy. >> richard engel, nbc news chief foreign correspondent. i know this has been a very long day. good luck covering all of this. thanks for being with us. richard engel. i will tell you something that

you should know. the iranian ambassador to the united nations did an interview with nbc news tonight in which he was asked about what the world should expect in terms of these promises of iranian retaliation. one thing he said in response was solemani was not only popular in iran. iran is not responsible for anything that those supporters might act. i said i do not know when or where or how the reaction will be by those who have seen the action against solemani. that's the iranian ambassador to the u.n. saying we're going to respond, but i can tell you that other people in other countries who feel strongly about this assassination might, too, and we can't be held responsible for what they do. we have much more to get to tonight. obama national security adviser susan rice will be joining us tonight. stay with us. be joining us tonight. stay with us. any comments doug? yeah. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual.

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george w bush was president. general stanley mccrystal had a shot. this is how he tells it. i've become accustomed to making tough choices. on a january night the choice was particularly tricky, whether or not to attack a convoy that included the head of iran's elite force. that was good reason to eliminate at the time iranian

made road side bombs claiming the lives of u.s. troops across iraq. to avoid a fire fight and the politics that would follow, i decided to monitor the caravan and not strike immediately. it was 2007. other presidents, other u.s. military commanders under other u.s. presidents have had their own chance to take that same shot, but every president has decided it was in america's best interest not to take it, every president before this one. the a.p. spoke to former officials who said the fear about the dangers of targeted killing of solemani, that persisted beyond the one opportunity in 2007 to potentially take solemani out. that fear extended into the obama administration. those officials telling the a.p.

that their determination was that solemani was just as dangerous dead and martyred as he was alive and plotting against americans. until now, apparently, that was the calculus inside the u.s. government and the military weighing whether it was more dangerous to kill this guy than it was to let him live. that was the calculus from the bush administration and from leaders in the obama administration. these other presidents both republican and democrat decided it was in america's best interest to let solemani live and more dangerous to kill him. why did this president decide this different. is taking out solemani now perceived to be less risky than in the past than before? or is it that the administration still thinks it's just as dangerous, but this white house just doesn't care as much about that risk in the way past white houses and past presidents have

cared? joining us next is somebody who has considerable experience weighing these kinds of risks for the united states. susan rice was ambassador for the u.n., national security adviser in the obama administration. she is our guest for the interview next. stration. she is our guest for the interview next. t. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

actions speak louder than words. she was a school teacher. my dad joined the navy and helped prosecute the nazis in nuremberg. their values are why i walked away from my business, took the giving pledge to give my money to good causes, and why i spent the last ten years fighting corporate insiders who put profits over people.

i'm tom steyer, and i approve this message. because, right now, america needs more than words. we need action. joining us mow is susan rice, ambassador for the u.n. and national security adviser for the obama administration. ambassador rice, thanks for being with us. i appreciate the time tonight. >> good to be with you, rachel. >> there is been a bunch of reporting over a period of years that the u.s. had previously assessed that it could be more dangerous to kill solemani than to allow him to live even when u.s. forces did potentially have a shot at him. there has been a lot of questions. what can you tell us in a

nonclassified setting here about that reporting and whether it is accurate and is there reason to think the calculation somehow changed? >> to my knowledge, rachel, and certainly while i was national security adviser, the obama administration was not presented with an opportunity by our intelligence community or by the u.s. military to strike solemani. had we been presented with such an opportunity, what we would have done is weighed very carefully and deliberately the risks versus potential rewards. we would have assessed the ways this could enhance our security and degrade our security. and i think judging from what i know and from what we're likely to see, i think that there is real reason to believe that in all likelihood the benefits will be outweighed by the risks.

and we also would have taken all sorts of time and effort to prepare to ensure that our personnel, diplomatic and military in the region, were maximally protected against the likelihood of iranian retaliation. the reason why it's reasonable to calculate that the risks could exceed the rewards is for all of the litany of examples you gave and richard engel outlined, the ways in which iran has the capacity to retaliate in very significant ways. they can retaliate, as you mentioned, in iraq without any restraint throughout the broader region, syria, lebanon, potentially against israel, all throughout the gulf where the graphic illustrated we have tens of thousands of american troops as well as diplomats, civilian

installations. so and then, of course, as you suggested at the outset, there is the wider risk that beyond the middle east in europe, proxy hezbollah has a major presence, and even in the united states there's the potential that they could attack targets of significance, hard and soft, military, diplomatic and civilian. so if in fact the administration can be believed that there was indeed strong intelligence of an imminent threat against the united states being carried out by soleimani and related militia, then the question becomes, one, were there more than one way to address that threat? was the only way to deal with it to kill soleimani who certainly given his history and track record deserves his just rewards, but the question is

does that serve our interests? does that make us more secure? and i'm dubious about that. and frankly, the fact that we have taken soleimani off the field doesn't mean that the iranians have lost their capacity to attack us. in fact, we can be certain that they are motivated now to retaliate in far greater scale than they may have been planning if that's, in fact, the case. >> ambassador rice, if mind holding with us for just another moment i'd like to ask you -- have to take a quick break but i'd like to ask you about the kind of actions the u.s. government could be taking now to mitigate the risks you're describing to take the sort of protective action we might reasonably take in this situation if we can stick with us. we'll be right back with susan rice, former ambassador to the u.n. and national security advisor. stay with us. stay with us any comments doug? yeah. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. con liberty mutual solo pagas lo que necesitas. only pay for what you need...

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go to xfinity.com/moving to get started. back with us once again is susan rice, former u.n. ambassador and national security advisor. ambassador rice, i've spoken with a number of experts and former administration officials particularly from the obama administration since this air strike. and i have been surprised that so many of them uniformly have said we should now consider ourselves to be on a war footing, that we should basically perceive ourselves to be in a war now with iran based on this act by the trump administration. i wonder if you -- if you share that view, and whether or not you share that view whether you think the trump administration is doing the right kind of

protective and mitigating things they could do to try to keep americans safe? >> i do think that the risk of direct conflict and sustained conflict with iran, a war has gone up immeasurably. and i think it is wise for americans to consider themselves likely to be on a war footing. if it can be averted, fine. but i'm dubious about that. there are things we can do to protect ourselves but none of them are sufficient or perfect. we can harden or embassies and our military facilities through a variety of means. we can draw down military or diplomatic personnel or increase personnel. we can warn american citizens not to travel and to leave, but none of those ensure that iran can't attack in an asimilar mym

way. and we have now assurance that by killing soleimani whatever plan we were trying to disrupt can't be executed. soleimani was certainly the orchestrator of many attacks but he wasn't a one man band. i think the iranians are going to have to demonstrate for their own survivability of the region and regime they will fight back and hit back hard. and when they do we will face the choice how we respond. either we respond in kind and that leads to escalation, or we back down and embolden iran to push forward further. either way the risk of conflict increases. >> susan rice, former u.n. ambassador and national security advisor and the author of "tough love my story of the things worth fighting for," thank you for making the time to be here. >> thank you so much, rachel. >> we'll be right back. stay with us. man: sneezes skip to the good part with alka-seltzer plus. now with 25% more concentrated power.

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i am here to tell you now we are going to be joined live on set by massachusetts senator and democratic presidential contender elizabeth warren. she will be here in studio with me on monday night. monday night right here i will see you then. now it's time for the "last word" where ali velshi is in for lawrence tonight. >> rachel, there was a lot of remarkable information in your show, but the only thing that stuck with me was that over the holidays my daughter, erika, asked me to go to little women and i demurred. and now i'm in trouble. >> you are in trouble. and if you want me to take her instead the answer is no because i already did it once and my favorite part of it was hearing star wars through the wall. >> rachel, have yourself a great weekend. all right, tonight, we'll be digging into a white house under extreme stress from the dramatic escalation with iran to the pressures of impeachment. and later in the show we'll look at potential strategies iran thinks it could use in war to outlast the united states. and