courtney kube joins us courtney, those militias are already striking back at u.s. forces >> reporter: yeah, that's right, lester the iranian-backed militia group struck u.s. bases again four more times now, there were no casualties and there was only minor damage at one base. but it is proof that the new u.s. airstrikes have not deterred the militia groups those u.s. strikes last night hit a safehouse and a training site used by the iranian-backed militia groups >> and courtney, another story you're following there at the pentagon, new details on a deadly u.s. helicopter crash on friday >> reporter: yeah, that's right lester, five u.s. special operations soldiers known as night stalkers were killed when their helicopter crashed during a refueling training mission in the eastern mediterranean. now, they were deployed to the region after the hamas terror attacks. and to be ready for any possible evacuation or rescue of american citizens lester >> courtney kube, thank you. >>> also tonight, hope for some children from gaza cancer patients cut off from chemotherapy by

forces in the waters off yemen courtney kube is at the pentagon tonight courtney, what more do we knowbout this >> reporter: that's right, lester. overnight militants believed to be iranian-backed houthi rebel fighters fired two close-range ballistic missiles from yemen that landed near a u.s. navy warship, the "uss mason. and just two hours before that the "mason" was responding to a distress call from a commercial tanker that was hijacked by pirates. a team of u.s. sailors detained the hijackers, who are suspected to be somali citizens now, no one was injured, and tonight defense officials do not believe the two incidents were linked. but this as tensions remain high in the region with at least 73 attacks on bases housing americans in iraq and syria in the last six weeks but tonight defense officials say those attacks on bases stopped when the truce in gaza began. lester >> courtney kube, thanks >>> the house could vote as soon as this week to expel embattled congressman george santos, who concedes that his days in congress may be coming to an end ryan nobles is at the capitol. ryan,

lester >> all right, keir, thanks i want to bring in pentagon correspondent courtney kube now. courtney, some of that escalating tension also involves the u.s. military >> reporter: yeah, that's right, lester last night, the u.s. military conducted its second round of air strikes in syria in less than two weeks. retaliation for the recent attacks against u.s. troops in the region by iranian-backed militia groups the u.s. air strikes targeting weapons and ammunition facilities linked to iran now just hours later, the same groups attacked the u.s. military at least four more times three americans suffered minor injuries, bringing the total to more than 50 u.s. personnel injured in attacks since october 17th, according to the pentagon and just yesterday, houthi rebels in yemen shot down a u.s. reaper drone, leading to fears that militias are trying to raise tensions even higher in a region already on edge lester >> courtney kube, thank you. >>> now to that surprise announcement today from senator joe manchin. the moderate west virginia democrat saying he will not run for re-electio

courtney kube is at the pentagon. what are you finding out about this, courtney? >> reporter: that's right, lester. overnight the u.s. military firing back again after another attack on a base resulted in injured americans and damage to a building. the pentagon says yesterday an iranian-backed militia group fired a missile in iraq. the missile hit an empty building, but several u.s. service members reported minor injuries. the ballistic missile is an escalation from the other 66 recent attacks in iraq and syria using drones and rockets. a u.s. military ac-130 gunship like this one spotted the launch and struck the militants' vehicle, killing several fighters. tonight officials tell nbc news they will continue to respond if the militia groups keep attacking u.s. bases. lester? >> courtney kube at the pentagon, thanks. >>> north korea has apparently launched its first military spy satellite after twice failing to do earlier in year. i was launched using a ballistic missile that fell into the sea. experts say russia may have helped north korea obtain the military spy

forces in the region this time in iraq, prompting a strong response courtney kube is at the pentagon what are you finding out about this, courtney >> reporter: lester, tonight, the u.s. military firing back again, after another attack on a base with u.s. personnel left americans injured and a building damaged on monday, the pentagon said iranian-backed militia groups fired a close-range ballistic missile at the air base in iraq the missile hit an empty building, but several u.s. service members reported minor injuries defense officials say the ballistic missile is an escalation over the other 66 recen attacks in iraq and syria using drones and rockets. a u.s. military ac-130 gun ship like this one spotted the launch and struck the militants' vehicle, killing several fighters and late tonight, two more retaliatory strikes south of baghdad, hitting the militia group's operation center, and a command and control facility more fighters believed killed there, as well. lester >> courtney kube at the pentagon, thanks >>> north korea has apparently launched its first military spy satellite, a

air force plane on a training mission off the coast of japan courtney kube has more for us tonight from the pentagon >> reporter: overnight a u.s. air force osprey crashed into the waters off japan's southern coast with eight u.s. airmen on board. tonight, u.s. military officials say the remains of one have been found and that search and rescue efforts continue the airmen, assigned to the 353rd special operations wing at kadena air base in japan, were on a training mission when japanese officials say the osprey disappeared around 2:40 p.m. local time the osprey is unique, capable of taking off and hovering like a helicopter, then tilting its rotors forward to fly like a plane, but it's an aircraft with a troubled history in august 2022, air force special operations command grounded all 52 of its ospreys for more than two weeks after clutches repeatedly malfunctioned, and deadly crashes with marine corps ospreys as well, including four marines killed when their osprey crashed during a exercise in norway last year, five more marines killed just three months later in southern california, a

. >> let's get to nbc's pentagon correspondent courtney kube. more can you tell us about these strikes, courtney, and the message the u.s. is trying to send iran? >> our viewers may think, okay, this is the third round of strikes, and after the first two, what we've heard is there have been more attacks against u.s. bases. that is still the case here now. we have heard that there have been -- we're still working on the exact number, but there have been additional attacks against u.s. bases in syria since the u.s. did these strikes. newspaper northeastern syria, a safe house and training facility, it's different from the previous two strikes. the last two times they hit a weapons and ammunition storage facility. in this case these are facilities that some of these iranian-backed militia groups operate out of and work out of. this one had more of a potential that there could have seen militants, some of the fighters that may have been present at the time. the u.s. generally conducts these strikes in the middle of the night local time with the goal

nbc news national security correspondent courtney kube has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: a u.se osprey crashed into the waters off japan's southern coast with eight u.s. airmen onboard. the remains of one has been found and that search and rescue efforts continue. the airmen assigned to the 353rd special operations wing in japan were on a training mission when japanese officials say the osprey disappeared around 2:40 p.m. local time. the osprey is unique. capable of take off and hovering like a helicopter, then tilting its rotors forward to fly like a plane. but it's an aircraft with a troubled history. in august 2022 air force special operations command grounded all 52 of its ospreys for more than two weeks after clutches repeatedly malfunctioned. and deadly crashes as well including four marines killed when their osprey crashed during an exercise last year. and four more killed three months later in southern california. and this august a marine corp osprey went down in australia killing three marines onboard including norm lewis' son, major toby lewis. >> i'm concerned about

nbc's courtney kube joins us with more on that.t do we know about the conditions of those on board, and do we have any information about what happened? >> we have very little information about this crash still at this point. we know a little bit of new information just actually in the last several months. there actually were eight u.s. service members on board this aircraft when it crashed. we've just learned that the number has been going back and forth over the last 12 hours or so since it crashed. u.s. officials are confirming there were eight individuals on board. this was a cv-22, an osprey, a variant flown by the u.s. air force. in this case, it was assigned to an air force special operations command unit, but actually the wing was based at kadina. air force special orientations command is saying it was a routine training event. beyond that, we don't know what they were doing or what happened when it crashed. there were eyewitness accounts of a fire on board. u.s. officials haven't been able to confirm anything like that, chr

nbc's courtney kube has more for us. what's the latest? >> reporter: the u.s. military carried out another set of air strikes in northeastern syria. this is the third recent set of air strikes the u.s. has taken there, all with the goal of deterring these attacks against bases with americans in iraq and syria. in fact, today wknow there have been at least 52 attacks against bases. that includes four since the u.s. carried out these air strikes just last night. now, the target is a little bit different this time from the two previous strikes. those were weans and ammunition facilities. now, in this case, there were two locations, one was a training facility and the other was a safe house. because of that, there is a possibility that some of these iranian-backed militia members may have been present at either site at the time of the strike according to u.s. officials. now, it's very different than the previous two. the u.s. generally takes these kinds of strikes in the middle of the night to minimize the chance of people being present, but just given the nature o

joining us now, nbc news pentagon court courtney kube, ali arouzi as well.on the proxy wars that are happening right now, attacks from iran's proxies overseas on u.s. forces. >> reporter: it's ticked up dramatically. we have had 50 attacks on bases with american personnel in iraq and syria since october 17th. for perspective here, while there have been periods over the past several years, there will be days or weeks with attacks, there hadn't been any of these sorts of attacks since march of this year. now we're seeing one just about every single day. that includes things like drones that will go towards the base, packed with explosives, with the intense of striking a facility, injuring and killing americans on board. we have seen rockets and mortars lobbed at these bases. it's important to point out the majority of these attacks have not been successful. they have not yielded casualties or damage to infrastructure on these bases, but in that time, there have been at least 56 minor injuries among u.s. personnel. of course there was also a contractor at al as

joining me now is nbc news pentagon correspondent courtney kube.urning question for lots of people even though this was not near the israel-palestine -- right near there, it was north -- far north of there is whether this is related in any way. i think that's what a lot of people are wondering. >> joy, that is the perfect question. and defense officials want to say that this is completely separate and apart from the war that's raging in israel and gaza right now. but the reality is none of this stuff happens in a vacuum. so there have not been strikes or bases housing americans in month. they restarted in october 17th and we have seen an uptick as many as five in sunday across bases in iraq and syria. that's why the u.s. took this strike in northeastern syria. the u.s. saying it was a retaliation for those attacks on bases at least 41 of them since october 17th. now the majority of those strikes are those attacks on these bases have not been effective. but there have been at least 46 u.s. personnel who have received minor injuries, many of them inc

joining us now is nbc's raf sanchez in tel aviv and nbc's courtney kube at the pentagon. >> reporter:ntinue to operate in the heart of gaza city targeting what they say are underground hamas tunnels, command centers looking for senior hamas officials, but they are operating literally blocks away at this point from the al-shifa hospital, the main hospital in the gaza strip, which as you said is no longer functional. that is according to the world health organization. jose, we are hearing just the most dire reports out of the al-shifa medical complex. they are saying that bodies are piled up in the hallways at the entrances of the hospital. there is no running water. there is no electricity and no one is a more urgent case right now than those dozens and dozens of prematurely born babies who had been up until this point inside of incubators, but with the electricity down, they are now being swaddled in blankets on a single bed in the surgery unit of the al-shifa hospital. doctors there doing everything they can to try to keep these newborns alive. manual respiration in some places, but

nbc's pentagon correspondent courtney kube is joining us now.hat more do we know about this crash and the search for those who were on board? >> sadly, ana, we know very little still beyond the fact that that was u.s. air force osprey, you know. our viewers can see from the video and the still photos we've been showing of this all morning, it's essentially -- it takes off like a helicopter but then it can fly like a plane, so it's a fast-moving generally people mover. it moves troops from place to place generally. we know very little about exactly why it may have gone down earlier today. in fact, candidly, the japanese coast guard is providing some information, but u.s. military officials are providing virtually no information about this. we don't even know exactly how many people may have been on board. we know that according to officials there were at least six, but that's really the extent of it, so we're continuing to gather information here, but this osprey has a history of problems, even recently of crashes, including the marine corps mv-2

raf sanchez and courtney kube, thank you so very much. appreciate it. >>> joining us now is mary eisen, managing director at the national institute for count terrorism. christopher o'leary, former director of hostage recovery for the united states government. how do you see this deal being carried out and what does it mean for israel's operations in gaza? >> so, first of all, it is very bittersweet. we all want to see all of the hostages and raf described that. you need to understand in israel, we are less than 10 million people, there are 240 hostages, those families don't know who is coming tomorrow. this is a photo-op, a very cynical one, for hamas. they never have said who is being led out. so in that sense, tomorrow is something that we all want to see, we're waiting to see who is going to come through. when we look at it right now and talk about the ground operation, you mentioned that the beginning that there are still firing different attacks inside the gaza strip. the pause only starts tomorrow. it hasn't started already. one of

joining us now is nbc's courtney kube. good morning. what is the latest on this announcement?ah, that's right, jose. so, as you can see, the fighting continues. and from a u.s. military perspective, last night secretary austin announced that president biden had ordered him to conduct strikes in northeastern syria. this is in response to a series, a real uptick in attacks against bases housing americans in iraq and syria. there was one air strike, in an area called darazor. it hit a facility that was housing ammunition, maybe some weapons, that belonged to the iranian islamic revolutionary guard corps, including may have had an affiliation with the qods force. the recent attacks have been carried out by the myrrh militia groups. late last night after the u.s. took this strike, a u.s. defense official is saying they're calling on iran to tell these proxy groups to stop carrying out these attacks. just moments ago, we heard from president biden where he was asked by reporters, leaving the white house, would the u.s. continue to carry out the strikes. >> and it is all backed, a lo

joining us now, nbc news pentagon correspondent courtney kube.ent right now. the middle east has not -- u.s. personnel have not seen this sort of fire for many years now in the middle east. >> yeah. i mean, this has definitely been a dramatic uptick. it's not the first time that bases with iraq and syria have come under attack in past years. but there really had been a lull in these sorts of attacks until october 17th. we're at nearly 70 attacks now since october 17th. and what's really changed the level of tension, just this week was an attack on an al asad in anbar province in iraq. used a close-range ballistic missile, one of these iranian backed militia groups. the missile hit an empty building, but still, a number of u.s. service members have come forward with minor injuries because of that attack. well, the u.s. had an ac 130 gunship overhead at the time. they were able to see the missile launch, track and target the people who were responsible for that. but then as you mention, as we saw on that map, the u.s. also took two additional strik

let's bring in pentagon correspondent courtney kube, more than 40 attacks on bases housing u.s.uding four additional attacks since the overnight strike, what more do we know about the u.s. is doing in response? >> reporter: not just, we learned moments ago there have been more injuries among u.s. service members, all minor, all returned to duty, but we're up to 40 attacks against bases housing u.s. troops in iraq and syria and now at least 56 personnel who have been injured, again all minor, but who have been injured in those attacks. you mentioned these air strikes last night -- one strike in northeastern syria, the idea here is to go after the facilities that are housing the weapons and the ammunition that these many elisha groups are using to carry out these attacks. that's why they're hitting these facilities and a senior u.s. military official said in fact in the video which we haven't seen yet, in the video of the actual strike they were able to see secondary explosions making them more confident, but the idea behind these strikes is to deter future attacks, it's not just

courtney kube joins us now. what more do we know about this crash and do we know how many people were onboard that aircraft. >> reporter: we're learning moments ago that there were eight individuals on the plane, that number has gone back and forth since it crashed about is the hours ago now, from 6 to 8, officials are now confirming it's 8 service members, a cv22, an air force variant of the osprey. we don't know what caused this aircraft to go down with those individuals onboard. search and rescue operations continue there now even though it's dark local time. the first service member who was found unconscious and later pronounced dead, we don't have a solid sense of how many others have been found. >> still a lot developing at least one person dead and courtney, we know this is not the first time that u.s. service members have died in a crash with this type of aircraft. what makes an osprey different? is the defense department going to make any changes to it? >> reporter: the previous crashes that we have see

joining us now, courtney kube to talk more about this. thanks for joining us.r: so unlike the previous two air strikes, which targeted ammunition and weapons facilities, also in northeastern syria, this strike was a little bit different. they targeted a training site and a safe house. so why that's important is because unlike the other locations which because of the nature of the fact that the u.s. struck them in the middle of the night and what was done there, they were pretty certain that there wouldn't be any individuals present when they carried out the strikes. that's not the case with the two strikes last night. the fact that it was a safe house and a training facility meant it was possible there would have been iranian-backed militia members present at the time of the strikes. they do believe there were people there. they don't know the number. they are saying they don't believe any of them were civilians. they were linked to the militia groups. >> these proxy wars can escalate fairly quickly. i'm wondering if the pentagon has laid out a red line as to w

what we learned, my colleague courtney kube and i went through our reporting to sort of look at why president biden not only was taking this approach toward israel but also really digging in on it, as he comes under all of the pressure that you just talked about from members of his own party, from u.s. allies overseas, and the reason is this is something he has believed for a long time, during the 2014 during the gaza conflict, he advocated for this position, the way to have influence with israel is to hug them very close, and basically not show any daylight between the u.s. and israel and that that, then, in turn in the president's view gives you leverage and allows you to quietly influence them. and what we have learned is that the president, in the early weeks of the current conflict in gaza, was talking about this, how he was right then and that his views were dismissed by former president obama and his staff at that time. and that because former president obama in 2014 came out very early and was critical of israel, that he never had any leverage with the israelis as they carried out the

. >> and so yeah, i mean, i was just thinking that, you know, speaking with courtney kube just this weeks she was, you know, kind of reminding us that there have been more than 70, 7-0 attacks on towards, you know, on american forces in the area since the 17th of october. this is 70 different attacks. general, how does the united states deal with that? it seems as though there's not a lot of messaging that the united states has been giving by counter attacking that has been very successful to this point. >> yeah, well, one way you deal with it is not to get drawn into the hype of this. and i got to tell you, i applaud the commander of u.s. central command general eric ka ril la. i also applaud our secretary of defense. he knows the area very well. he used to command central command as well, and they're not giving in and being over provocative with counter attacks. it's been pretty -- a good -- pretty good attacks in response to these attacks by the houthis. i think the way you play this is you don't let them draw you into this conflict, and i think that's the way they've been going about

nbc's national security military correspondent courtney kube has been at the forefront of lot of these issues and will offer her insights as well. we have imported panels frank discussion with public affairs officials panels on the challenges of ukraine in afghanistan and of course we have our awards ceremony later today in their first annual mre taping so stick around for that. on a more serious note but to honor those who were killed doing their jobs. so far there has been 36 journalists have been killed. 27 are recovering from the latest israel hamas war and the majority of these journalists o are in tons of like the journalists on the web site who was killed during an israeli bombardment. we join the committee to protect journalists. weom call on an independent investigation by the u.s. government at the killing of journalists by israeli soldiers last year. nothing that -- about that appears in an accident. journals have been killed in ukraine whether a brutal invasion by russia afghanistan columbia camarillo rwanda philippines india mexico bangladesh and here in the united states

courtney kube, courtney, thank you very much. and that's going to do it for me today. "deadline: white house" starts right now. >>> hi, everyone, it is 4:00 in new york. i'm alicia menendez in for nicolle wallace. we start with breaking news this afternoon. two people are dead after a vehicle crashed and exploded at the border between the united states and canada in niagara falls. the very top of this video, you can see a car that appears to be traveling at high speed. it launches into the air and disappears off screen. according to law enforcement, the vehicle crashed into the rainbow bridge checkpoint structure and caught fire and exploded. the two occupants of the vehicle are now dead, and one customs and border patrol officer sustained minor injuries that did not require hospitalization. authorities did not find a secondary explosive or device. the white house says they are monitoring the situation closely, and the canada border service agency says it is working with the u.s. counterparts on this matter. the fbi is now investigating this cnn and whether or not the

and get this, that's right one of her grandkids, nbc news correspondent, courtney kube happy birthdayhappy birthday to everybody who is celebrating all right. coming up on hoda and jenna, from the hit tv series, we have actress karen pittman here. >>> coming up next in the 3rd hour, though, the no excuses edition of "start today. isaac will show us exercises we can do at home we will leave you with more from washington state's mercer island high school marching band. and we will be back after your local news and weather >>> good morning. it is 8:56. i'm marcus washington. an unusual threat from workers this morning at open ai, the maker of chatgpt, vowing to have a mass resignation following the recent dismissal of the company's ceo. board members fired sam altman on friday saying he had lost their trust. other members of altman's team this morning announcing microsoft is now hiring him to lead their new ai unit. since friday openai appointed one interim ceo and then another and at one point announcing it wanted altman back. close to 500 workers have signed the letter calling for altm