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 now it's time for the "last >> now it is time for the last word. >> rachel, a lot of remarkable information in your show. what stuck with me is over my holidays, my daughter asked me to go to "little women." i demured. now i'm no trouble. >> if you want me to take her, i will not. i did it once. >> tonight, we are digging into a white house under extreme stress over the escalations of iran to the possibilities of impeach. looking at potential strategies

iran thinks it could use as war. senator mitch mcconnell says he doesn't care how long the case lasts. with each day, the case against president trump grows. the killing of qasem soleimani has stunned the world. in fort brag, nearly 3,500 members prepare to deploy. president trump does not want regime change in iran and, quote, we did not take action to start a war. >> the united states has the

best military by far anywhere in the world. we have the best intelligence if the world. if americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets fully identified. i am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. that in particular refers to iran. >> in washington he claimed dozens of lives were at imminent risk. he did not provide specific notice that. house speaker spoke to mark es per only after the attack and said chuck schumer was not told of the upcoming action.

the gang of eight claws the house speaker and minority leader. >> the operation against solemai everyone n without authorization or any advanced consultation and transparency with wong res can lead to has tynd ill-considered decisions. when security is at stake, decisions should not be in a vacuum. for the precise reason forcing the two branches of government to consult when it came matters of war and the peace. >> a man some say is second only to the supreme leader.

wondering whether we are hurdling 2w0er hurdling towards war. >> subjecting that so this will be seen as a reable. producing heavy sanctions and trump has launched a major response. writing, given its past comments it is yet tiff. if they don't fear you, they won't respect you. the flip side that have the

provokation. where there is is anyone's guess. that said, we have news of another escalation fwa the bits a report of another u.s. air strike targeting shia malitia leaders that killed six people. former deputy advisor to president obama and he served in senior national security positions under busch, obama and trump. let's begin with you and the situation in tehran.

>> well it is a very, very sensitive situation here. there is a feeling of shock because soleimani was killed. he was a central figure. he was the second most powerfulman in the country behind ayatollah. qasem soleimani had this powerful network. he was a cultish figure to these guys. i've seen videos of the front

lin lines. he sort of walked around with impugnity. when he would meet the troops there and either kiss them or touch them. they would be ina of him. which was a legendary figure. even in iran, among people maybe not huge fans of the regime. there was a sort of underlying effe effect. this is a big blow to iran. that's not to say he is not row the general has promised to

expel the u.s. forces from this area. >> if satan, which is what the revolutionary guard refers to. if the great sat ant doesn't leave this area, they've be sent back in body bags. i'm sure iran is planning its retribution right now. they don't want to look back. iran has a lot of options available to it. it is not probably wanting to get involved in some sort of conventional war with the united states. those malitias can spark a war that can be very difficult for america. they have multiple targets to hit in this area.

there are u.s. bases all around them. they've said if they are threatened or hit, they can strike u.s. bases almost immediately with an affair of i weapons. they've use the it against america in the past and is probably something they are considering now. there was a meeting yesterday of the national security council. a very high level meeting. for the first time, ayatollah a a tipped that meeting. or one of his very senior deputy tirs but he's no longer here to

represent him. it is interesting. if there was an assassination in iran other than him, at a very high level, it would be soleimani planning. the revolutionary guard want to show even though they haven't lost their potential are 1458 sto strike back. >> you talk about a sem i war. saying we should be asking two questions. why now and what now. iran escalated its war with the united states. the other worrying answer is that the president is impulsive

and wages war without much thought. president trump may have had a reason to do this. if you had a chance to take him out, you should. but what on earth happens next? >> that's the key question. i've been making my point. anyone who served there says this is justice served. the question now is what happens next. there is an underlying issue that the administration and congress has to comply with. with maximum pressure on iran, they will come to the table. i don't remember anyone briefing

when this policy was rolled out that two years later, we have troops sent to the middle east, we'd have tanker assaults. we have not seen attacks since 2011. so they started two months ago, you have to ask why. tragically, an american contractor was killed. that has to have a response. we have to presume we are in a state of war with iran. we can hope this goes well. we need to plan and prepare for

the worse. the question is when they do respond, what do we do? this is not vee nam but at a strategic matter, it was called graduated pressure. air strikes, covert action. we went to escalating pressure where we put twrups in. we had the assumption wrong. if that assumption is wrong with respect to iran, than this is not going to stop. we have no channels that are open as far as we are aware.

the question is what did we do? it could be a matter of weeks or months. it could be six months from now. that can be coming. >> how do you counter the sickle then? also writing in the atlantic said the united states is in a hot war with iran after waging war the past several decades. we do know in giving the order to kill soleimani, you hope one has a plan for what happens next. >> there is no reason to believe that president trump and the people around him have is that.

>> we had a nuclear agreement that had rolled back the nuclear program we had a lot of tensions. then president trump pulled out of that agreement saying it would allow him to that we already pull the out of the military people. to unleash proxy a tarks around the world. we should be watching in the days and weeks to come. so president trump are has never demonstrated over the course of the last two attacks.

when he had the opportunity to take a lot incise. i wonder if he understands that killing qasem soleimani in iran is the same as taking a twriek at eye ranl. they said they will respond. st they always do. they've been fighting for 15 years. they've been taking casualties in iraq and syria. they were still undertaking these rocket attacks. the concept is not new to them. president trump needs to layout what are the objectives here. they are going to respond.

what do we do next. we have no clarity from president trump where he's taking us. >> thank you for joining us. form national security an vieszor. served as senior national s director. you've moved from london to tehran. thank you. it is an early morning for you. thank you for joining us. coming up, the senate leaders have spoken much mcconnell delivered a blow with a reality check. that's next. check. that's next [ applause ]

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this fantasy that the speaker of the house will get to hand design the trial in the senate that is a nonstarter are. >> speaking on the floor today 16 days after the house impeached donald trump. he did attempt to deflect criticize including from some republican senators. >> everything i do during this, i'm coordinating with white house counsel.

there is no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this. >> here is how mcconnell addressed that today. >> we've heard claims. there is a problem i discussed trial mechanics with the wout. openly coordinating with the speaker who some call the prosecution. >> first, mcconnell appeared to quash an idea that has been perk lating about the senate launching a trial on its own. >> it is the senate's turn now to render sober judgement as the framer's envisioned. but we can't hold a trial without the articles. the senate is all rules. don't provide for that.

>> chuck schumer noted that the fate of the trial could rest with any republican senator willing to join the democrats. >> there has never, never in the history of our country been impeachment chiel in which the senate didn't hear from the witnesses. the rules will be determined by the majority of the senators in this chamber, not by the plib leader alone. >> schumer emphasize how much evidence in the case and against the president has come out just in the 16 days he was impeached. five days after, we learned a political appointee emailed the defense about the military aid, 90 minutes after donald trump's call with the president of ukraine. >> kwoek, please hold off on any

additional d observe d operation of funds due to the nature of the question. i president bush you keeping the information closely held. 12 days after, december 30, new york times published a story on what was happening inside the white house during the 84 days the aid was held up with the sub headline documents showed trump push to hold funding despite intense option. the times also reported in mid-august, and national security advisor tried to stage an intervention with president trump in the oval office with no avail. just yesterday, a reporter claims to have seen new

unredacted females that came directly from donald trump. nbc news has not seen these e-mails and we cannot verify them. telling the pentagon not to release the aid. clear direction for the potus to hold. today, a federal judge ruled that one of rudy giuliani's indicted associates can share information with veinvestigator. tonight, released there were 20 e-mails discussing the freeze of a congressionally mandated military package to ukraine. omb said it would not turnover any of the 40 pages of e-mails

not even with redactions. the times said it will challenge the blanket holdings of the documents. today, in court fighting for mueller-related testimony and evidence. and pelosi had authorized had imto say that on the report in court. the house legal fight also led to an unbelievable exchange with a trump appointed judge about the sergent of the arms in the house. you don't want to miss that. it is next. next see in you, is a spark. we see your kindness and humanity. the strength of each community. the more we look the more we find the sparks that make america shine.

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ed to in a federal appeals court, the top lawyers argued for the house to get grand jury material and testimony from former white house counsel don

mcgahn. the case could have implications for the impeachment proceedings. it is possible the house will bring more articles against trump. today's arguments took a very trump era turn when the judge asked the counsel if the court said yes, the house should get the material. would the justice department be compelled to comply. the question shocked the house lawyer and opened the question that the administration will only act at gun point. listen to this. >> that's stunning. just stunning. for this courtrooms that the house is enstietled to this material. the attorney general is going to say no? >> i'm asking a hypothetical. >> i guess we use the main remedy the house has had from the beginning.

we'll send the sergent in arms over to the justice department. i cannot imagine anyone is going to interfere with him. he'll pick up the grand jury material and bring it to the house. >> so you do have self-help. >> absolutely. >> so why not avail yourself of that remedy? >> the reason is obvious. why is it obvious. >> that's why, again, this was discussed in the first case. that's why we don't do that anymore. we don't have the sergent in arms arrest people and have a gun battle. instead, we go to court. >> joining me now, former federal prosecutor in the courtroom today for that legal exchange. and former republican who submitted a brief to the house

in that case. welcome boe welcome both of you. you heard this, was it meant to be funny? explaining that unless you do get the sergent of arms go in with guns. >> you don't often describe gun play between two branches of government as light hearted. i don't think it was intended to be serious. if the court decided these materials from the mueller case can be sort of unsealed and available. that's different. from the court ordering this emto turn them over. there are different things. i do they he was surprised by the question.

you have to believe if the appellate court orders that, yes, the house is enstititled materials, they would simply turn them over. given what the department of justice has said, i wasn't so sure it was a question with some consequences. >> the last three years have told us when that distinction is. there are things you are supposed to do and things that won't happen. that's what this house and many outlets are up against with this administration. the idea that they are supposed to do splg or provide transparency or disclose your doesn't happen.

>> it is like holding the basketball at the end of the game to make sure time runs out. i think another part of this is when the judge like that creates a confusion and also races issues like this almost in a joking manner, what they are trying to do is reduce the important a importantance of what this is. what this is is a constitutional issue under the constitution has the authority and responsibility to impeach people if they have high crimes and misdemeanors. here we are trying to get the evidence and mr. mcgahn for one says he doesn't want to cooperate. he's never going to turnover anything. that is just not true. we look in our brief that we filed, 15 members of the

congress. we found a good quote would probably be from john quincy adams that said it would make a mockery to the power of congress if they didn't have the power and information and documents. it is pretty well settled law. >> every congress, every strieb is going to want to preserve the constitutional right to do this. much more ahead. first, a special message from lawrence. over the holidays, you continued your generous support of the k.i.n.d. fund without many reminders from me because of the impeach news not leaving us much room to show you more

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how will iran respond?

that is one of the most pressing questions to answer as we consider the repercussions of the death of qasem soleimani. one says quote, tehran can't match washington's fire you power. hoping a war weary u.s. public and the president cause america to stand down. that may seem like a huge ask and it is but experts believe the islamic republic has the capability, know how and will to pull off such an ambitious campaign. iranians can escalate in a lot of different ways and places. michael hanna said they had the capacity to do a lot of damage. >> joining our discussion now, former fib special agent who spent years pursuing terrorists and have authored two books, he

is the ceo of the group. the question people have is not that qasem soleimani was a remarkably potent man. the issue is what do you do next? killing osama bin laden did not have the same complexity that would follow in angering a state that doing this will have with iran. >> sure. osama bin laden was the leader of a nonstate actor. he was hiding in pakistan when we killed him. qasem soleimani is the second most popular in iran and their foremost generals. i don't know that they'll respond immediately. eventually, they will respond

for the killing of qasem soleimani. they will use the tools they already worked hard in establishing in the last two decades. they had been busy supporting terrorist organizations, creating chaos in the middle east. they became more powerful than the state themselves like hezbollah or those in yemen. if you look at iran's strategy that focuses on using the power in order to support the iranian regime in the region, i think qasem soleimani can be considered the main architect of that strategy. i think they will use the

powers. i agree with the article to do so. they have hundreds of thousands of fighters all the way from yemen to the borders with israel that are more capable to spread chaos and make it more difficult to the united states to establish the security goals in the middle east. >> the former iran team chief at the office of policy wrote in foreign affairs that islamic republic's behavior over the past few months will not rush to retaliate but will likely try to avoid an all-out war with the united states. i assume you don't see a situation in which american and iranian forces are at any point in battle? >> you know, i'm sure the president doesn't want a war in iran but also iranians don't want war with the best military

in the world. that's why they have a strategy based on the power using others to fight their wars in places away from iran. they don't have to use their own soldiers in order to fight the might of the united states. so, i agree that the iranians will try to avoid a direct military conflict to the united states because the regime wanted to maintain itself. a conflict with the united states where we use our air power and naval power to bomb iran is not going to be the way for this regime to survive. >> thank you for joining me. a quick programming note, msnbc's live coverage of the aftermath begins early tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.

we'll be covering the reaction around the middle east as the funeral for soleimani unfolds. coming up, here to talk about how the iran crisis will affect the race for president. stay with us. wannabe suvs should close for the day. regular four door sedans should close for the foreseeable future. all jeep 4x4 vehicles will remain open- despite the harsh weather conditions. ♪ proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation

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if we have learned nothing else from the middle east in the last 30 years is that taking out a bad guy is not a good idea unless you are ready for what comes next. >> he deserved to be brought to

justice for his crimes but no matter how revived he was in the west, he was a senior figure for the iranian government. no doubt iran will in fact respond. >> when you think about what this president did, it is not clear to me and i have a lot of questions and concerns about did he think of the repercussions of what this means like did he think about when he got out of the iranian agreement. >> trump promised to end endless wars. tragically, his actions now put us on the path to another war. potentially one that could be even worse than before. >> us air strike in baghdad that killed the general qasem soleimani has pushed the issue to the forefront of the

presidential race. the candidates' reaction to the killing came one day after new fundraising numbers were released. sanders brought in $34.5 million in the final quarter of 2019. nearly $10 million more than pete buttigieg. those numbers pail in comparison to the $46 million donald trump raised. that doesn't include any money raised by the rnc. president trump's best fundraising quarter to date despite or maybe because of the ongoing impeachment issue. more about how the ongoing impeachment of donald trump could impact the race. race. biotene definitely works. [heartbeat]

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[ snoring ] [ loud squawking and siren blaring ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ now the administration has said the goal of killing soleimani was to detour future attacks by iran but the action almost certainly will have the opposite impact. this morning, we could be on the brink of a new kind of major conflict in the middle east. >> joining our discussion now, white house correspondent and msnbc analyst. she was one of the moderators for t for t

f for the recent debate. we just heard from joe biden. he doesn't seem to think this was a good idea or well thought out by the president but a conversation does play to joe biden in a race to joe biden in a race against donald trump. >> that is true. joe biden has one of the longest resumes. that could be a liability and a benefit. the war in afghanistan show that the obama administration and biden administration as he was vice president had some real issues when it came credibility and whether or not they were honest with the american people. what the killing of this general does is could potentially reshape the democratic primary. refocusing the talk. now you have candidates trying to show they are someone who understands foreign policy.

you see people having differenting opinions. calling this an assassination of the general. you have michael bloomberg saying it is outrageous and whether or not president trump is ready for the fall out. the bottom line is that they seem to think this was a bad guy that should have been taken out but that the president is possibly acting in a way that is impulsive and isn't ready for the after math. that seems to be the thing they want to talk about. it will be interesting to see if this national security focus continues in the months and weeks ahead. >> he may have unleashed something he can't control. there was a lot of worry about whether there would be a recession and sort of suggesting an end to the trade war, he may have dodged that bullet. in this case, in doing this with iran, he may not be able to

manipulate the response that he wants. >> look, external campaigns always contain. as donald trump has shown in several other incidents, the bombing in the syrian airfield, the killing, he is rarely able to convert these things to the longer lasting arena. the killing of bin laden, by the time he was done, he was one old guy. iran still gets a vote in this thing. we should be cautious about how much of a victory lap the president takes and knowing that he has unleashed something with major consequences goes forward. >> iran might be in the driver's seat about when and how they

respond in a way that could not make it look like donald trump is a serious thinker about foreign policy. >> the thought that iran is a nation that thinks about how to respond. some of your guests saying they can't get into a military fight or war but they can pressure the military or bait donald trump to do something he didn't want to do as a president. there is liability there as a president. democrats have been trying to point out that donald trump isn't ready for this fight. the other thing to note is that president trump apart from having military reasons for doing this also had political reasons. the whole news cycle was all about impeachment and the idea that the president was facing a

political crisis there. this strike takes the conversation away from ukraine for a moment. there are democrats that also cautious about whether or not iran could become a red herring when democrats want to talk about the president when trying to force the foreign country to look at it for his own political benefit. >> do you think the president didn't inform congress and hasn't gotten engaged in this activity? >> the mdaa that most of them signed on to, barack obama and bush operated under these. he probably does have the ability. the fact that he's telling a collection of people at mamar-a

and not the gang of eight. >> that is tonight's last word. tomorrow's live coverage she was a mom looking for her baby, and her baby hadn't come home. >> reporter: cathy's week had been nothing but trouble. >> she couldn't tell me what had happened. >> she was so upset. >> reporter: it was about to get much worse. >> my mom would say "if you find the car, you'll find cathy." >> you didn't want it to be dark because you wanted to keep looking. >> she had been stabbed multiple times. there was blood within the interior of the car. she was a targeted victim. >> reporter: who killed cathy? >> we had no witness. we had no confession. we had no dna. >> reporter: 20 years went by. >> they still had to keep looking for what i had lost.