barbara starr, thank you very much. john kirby, cnn and diplomatic analyst, served as press secretary to the pentagon. admiral, thank you for being with us. barbara starr was telling me this is technically not an escalation in the conflict. but this is the first time that the u.s. has shot down a military plane in a war zone since kosovo in 1989. this in and of itself, forget about how the russians are responding, is a significant event. >> now caused the downing of another tactical aircraft from another nation state. you can't deny that. the act itself was an act of self-defense. we were very public many, many months ago that we were going to protect those forces if they came under attack. we did what we said we were going to do. the pentagon hopes this is a deterrent effect. having to shoot this down, which they didn't want to do, that they can deter the syrian regime and russians from doing something like that in the future. >> now russia is saying any u.s. aircraft or allied craft west of the euphrates will be a tar

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> and our thanks to barbara starr for that report and other world. the white house this afternoon called on the russian government to release demonstrators arrested earlier today in anti-corruption protests across russia. press secretary sean spicer calling the arrests, which included minors, an affront to core democratic values. one of those taken into custody, a well-known opposition leader and putin critic. let's go right to st. petersburg in russia. how did these protests come about? >> reporter: well, this is the second round of protests called by navalny, a kremlin cricket and anti-corruption campaign, and he's managed to galvanize tens of thousands of people in more than 100 cities across this country r.today the second time that they came out, and the kremlin i think has been taken back by the scale of these protests and has reacted both times by detaining hundreds of protests as most of them in moscow and st. petersburg and i think he's hoping that that crushes the momentum that novalny is trying to build and it may not be that eared. >> te

cnn's barbara starr is live at the pentagon with more. >> reporter: the battle field expanding. u.s. troops at risk. we saw in somalia with the air strikes against al qaeda there. the al qaeda affiliate has heavy weapons and armorred vehicles. u.s. moving against it. in syria, not just the battle for raqqah which u.s. troops will be involved in as military advisers at risk there. in southern syria, a number of air strikes against iranian-backed militias by the u.s. because they moved in in a threatening position. that is a significant threat to the u.s. troops down in southern syria. the u.s. moved to take them out. in the philippines, not very well known and not much information about it. u.s. special forces also stepping in the southern philippines at the request of president duterte there to move against forces and providing intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance. in afghanistan, three u.s. troops killed over the weekend in a so-called insider attack by an afghan soldier. they are in an area where they, too, u.s. forces battling isis in eastern afghanistan. will this be

let's go to barbara starr. >> reporter: good morning. a late-night statement from the white house that still today has not gotten any further followon explanation. getting attention from washington to damascus to moss co cow. identifying potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children, going on to say that there would be a heavy price to pay if this attack were to happen. so what is clear is that though the trump white house is putting bashar al assad and indeed the russians and iranians who back him on notice that if there is another chemical weapons attack, a heavy price? what could that mean? could that mean a u.s. military response? we don't know. the pentagon not talking about all this, but it appears to be a new red line from a president who said he would not senate adversary what's he planned to do. maybe he's learning that at this point it may be worth it to signal assad, warn him, warn the cre kremlin, not to do i

joining me is barbara starr and nick peyton walsh. barbara, what are you learning?reporter: the opposition from russia and iran no surprise. they restaurant supporters offal assad. this warning was put out overnight from the white house as a warning. a warning to the syrians and russians to try to make the syrians back off. they show an aircraft at this particular air base where the last chemical attack originated from on the air base that was being watched very carefully. there was chemical agent nearby. the concern was that all of this was leading to the possibility, the real possibility that the syrians were planning another aerial attack using chemical weapons as they did in april. an aircraft and ammunitions. the statement comes out and the hope is that this will be enough to get the russians to persuade assad to back off. the white house being very firm, angry in its tone, saying that assad would pay a heavy price, women and children would be killed. we saw the u.n. ambassador, nikki haley come out that supporters of assad would bear responsibility for this. w

barbara starr is live for us at the pentagon.is a president who said consistently, america first, america first, america first. however, much more intervention in the expanding war on terror. >> reporter: it is an expanding war, poppy. some of it dating back to the obama administration, but president trump clearly moving in several directions, i think it would be fair. the white house saying that's part of the policy to keep america safe from terrorism. and we're seeing it in so many places, in somalia over the weekend in the horn of africa, the u.s. conducting that first air strike under president trump's expanded rules against the al qaeda affiliate there. in syria, we are seeing u.s.-backed forces moving into raqqah and last week a number of u.s. air strikes in southern syria against iranian and regime-backed militias that had been in threatening positions against u.s. forces in the south there. those air strikes pushing them back. in the philippines, u.s. special forces in the southern philippines now working to provide techn

>> good report, barbara starr at the pentagon. thank you very much. that's it for me.very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett "out front" starts right now. >> next, breaking news. white house leaving the door open to blocking james comey's testimony. this, as we're learning more about what comey will say. plus donald trump's endless tweets about russia. are they a treasure trove for special counsel robert mueller? and does donald trump still think that climate change is a hoax? sean spicer doesn't know. good evening i'm kate baldwin "out front" tonight. the white house is leaving open the possibility of the president invoking executive privilege to block fired fbi director james comey from testifying. his testimony is clearly shaping up to be the

barbara starr is joining us. were you in a briefing getting more information. what are you hearing? >> reporter: poppy, we do now have a very significant update from the pentagon. the pentagon spokesman captain jeff davis concluding an off-camera briefing a short time ago. he's told reporters here this morning, they've been looking at intelligence over the last few days at this air base that they had struck back in april, that they believe that chemical attack was organized and perpetrated from and began to see some activity there regarding the chemical weapons stored at that air base, but in the last 24 hours, that intelligence, that information became more compelling, and became suggestive, according to the pentagon, that the syrians were planning an attack. the intelligence is focusing on one particular aircraft shelter at that base, an aircraft that is there and chemical weapons substances that are there. now, he wouldn't go so far as to say whether the chemical weapons have been or were being loaded on to that aircraft, but, again, saying that the intelligence had become more c

>> barbara starr at bening. thank you for that reporting. >>> this morning, new cnn reporting on frustrations simmering within the west wing. amid the advisors closest to the president. >> yeah. some sources tell cnn administration intelligence officials are unsettled by the president's unwillingness to call out and punish russia for its meddling in the u.s. elections. cnn chief political correspondent dana bash joins us now with this reporting. good morning, dana. >> reporter: good morning, john and poppy. multiple administration officials say they're struggling to convince president trump that russia still poses a threat to the integrity of american elections. one told our colleague sara murray, there's no evidence, no evidence, to show trump is actively engaging. the president gets a daily briefing including updates on russia. beyond that, an administration official says no paper trail, no schedules, readouts, nothing to sayhaving meetings like other threats like the u.s. power grid. a congressional source te

barbara starr is working this story for us. barbara, the administration clearly very concerned and issuing some stark warnings. >> reporter: the warnings, the language is changing everywhere, wolf. good evening. president trump a couple days ago said north korea might have to be dealt with rapidly. now we know why. two officials are telling me that military options for north korea have recently been updated and will be ready, are ready, to present to president trump if needed. every north korean missile test, the possibility of an underground nuclear test all being awatched constantly to se if he launches something capable of reaching the united states. h.r. mcmaster brought all of this out into public view. >> the threat is much more immediate now. it's clear that we can't repeat the same approach -- failed approach of the past. the president has directed us to not do that and to prepare a range of options, including a military option which nobody wants to take. there is a recognition that there has to be more pressure on the r

let's begin this hour with barbara starr from alexandria. what more are you learning, barbara, what's happened and more on the shooter. >> reporter: yeah, brooke. hi. we're about 25 minutes south of capitol hill here across the potomac river on the street where it happened, that baseball field just behind these police lines. in the last several minutes, we've seen some additional federal law enforcement vehicles show up working on evidence gathering, working on the forensics, we believe. most of the emergency critical vehicles that were here for the initial response have now gone but these additional personnel moving in the fbi leading the investigation. this is a federal crime, an attack on members of the u.s. congress. so the fbi has the lead and made the point earlier this morning they are looking at saul scenarios. we've had these reports of politically inspired messages on social media of this attacker being potential leanne ly anti- the other. they are not ready yet to come to any conclusions about motivation. the alexandria police chie

let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, the u.s.prepared military options for president trump to consider. does that include the possibility, for example, of a pre- pre-emptive strike? >> reporter: they always have options full ai cross the board. 234e have an option for everything. back to what you said a minute ago. updating. that's the key here. they are updating the options now, because north korea is making progress in its ability to build a weapon, a missile and a nuclear warhead that could some day attack the united states, and they are beginning to better be able to essentially deceive the u.s. about their intentions. hiding their test program. hiding their launches until the very last minute. all of this leading to concern that the u.s. has options for the president, if there was to be a leak to it, a destabilizing test and have to give the president an option to respond to all that. listen to a little snip of what the national security adviser, h.r. mcmaster had to say about this. >> the threat is much more immediate now,

let's go to our correspondent barbara starr. barbara, president trump, is he drawing a new red line in syria? >> reporter: well, it appears he just might be, would have. he is making clear he will not tolerate another chemical attack by the assad regime. and this time hoping, at least, the russians can make that stick. >>> syrian president bashar al-assad climbed into the cockpit of a russian aircraft. the kremlin's military chief of staff watching nearby. just as moscow and damascus get an ominous warning from president trump about assad getting ready for another chemical weapons attack. a sudden overnight statement from the white house saying, the united states has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children. warning that assad will pay a heavy price. >> the goal is that this, not just to send assad a message, but russia and assad a message, if this happens again we are putting you on notice. >> re

clarissa. >> okay, barbara starr. as we can see, president trump clearly facing several complex dangerous international threats, russia, north korea, syria. how is he handling them? one former diplomat says when it comes to russia, he is neglecting his duty. ambassador nicholas burns joins ambassador nicholas burns joins us next to explain. from the largest financial matomallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and. lwho's the lucky lady? i'm going to the bank, to discuss a mortgage. ugh, see, you need a loan, you put on a suit, you go crawling to the bank. this is how i dress to get a mortgage. i just go to lendingtree. i calculate how much home i can afford. i get multiple offers to compare side by side. and the best part is... the banks come crawling to me. everything you need to get a better mortgage. clothing optional. lendingtree, when banks compete, you win. okay! ...aw

>> barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you.scuss with diplomatic analyst retired rear admiral john kirby. certainly the united states actively involved in the new hot spots around the world, admiral, but is this a new strategy? >> i don't know that it's a new strategy. it's certainly some more aggressive tactics and procedures being applied here but i think you need to keep this in perspective. some of this is a continuation of the previous administration's counterterrorism efforts, we see that in syria and iraq, the previous administration put together the 68-member coalition to go after isis, same as in the pill fee philippines, it's not a new thing. some of this is an acceleration. you've seen that in yemen, we've seen that in libya with the president delegating more authorities to the pentagon, able to do things more faster, agree aggressi aggressively. in afghanistan, the ct, counterterrorism press are goen going after isis and some of this is without question an expansion, we see the strike in somalia that is something ne

barbara starr, thanks very much. let's get some more analysis on this. joining us are cnn military and diplomatic analyst, retired rear admiral john kirby, served at the state department and the pentagon as press secretary. sounds like a pretty dangerous situation where you have the russians issuing this warning to u.s. and coalition planes and drones, to stay out of the way. >> it was a very weirdly worded warning and it was a warning, i agree with barbara. it also talked about escorting as well. so it's not quite clear just how overt the threat was. obviously the pentagon is taking it seriously as they should, and repositioning as they need to. what the chairman said today, we need to pay attention to that. he talked about that communications between the militaries is still ongoing. they are going to do what they can to restore this deconfliction arrangement and he also said it's not helpful for anybody for the rhetoric to get hyperbolic or shrill, let's work on communicating and trying to rachet down the temperature. >> is this an escalation from the

let's go to the pentagon where we find our barbara starr. general mcmaster says the threat is more immediate now. do we know what specific intelligence he's pointing to? >> reporter: it's interesting, we are hearing this hardening of language. president trump, himself, a couple days ago said north korea might have to be dealt with rapidly. that was president trump's wording of this. why are they saying this? intelligence is indicating the north koreans are continuing to make progress in their ballistic missile weapons program. also, hiding their activities better, their launch activities, preparation activities making it more difficult for the u.s. to anticipate north korea's next step. that leading to this updating of options, including a military option to be ready for the president if it came to the point he had to make a decision about doing something. general mcmaster laying some of this out in public. >> the threat is much more immediate now. so, it's clear that we can't repeat the same approach, failed approach of the past. the presid

let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr following the story for us. arbara, what is the very latest? >> reporter: wolf, the russians are saying the u.s. engaged in an act of aggression. the u.s. says it's taking all due precautions against the russians. u.s. pilots flying overseer i can't now looking on the look out for russian airplanes or missile threats following a u.s. shoot down by a navy of a super hornet of a syrian war plane. this because the kremlin threatened that any u.s. war plane operating in certain areas of syria would be considered a threat. when the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff was asked if he was confident that russia would not shoot down a u.s. war plane, the answer was carefully worded. >> i'm confident that we are still communicating between our operations center and the russian federation operation center and i'm also confident that our forces have the capability of to take care of themselves. >> reporter: defense secretary james mattis taking the threat seriously. his spokesperson issuing a statement. as a result of rece

>> barbara starr at the pentagon for us. we have much more to discuss on the senate health care bill and what changes trump might be discussing right now with republican senators at the white house. stick around. we'll be right back. company. but "yes" is here. you're saying the new app will go live monday? yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes. now you drive 300to be fmiles to watch this. don't get me wrong. you love "flag dancing" as much as the next guy. all eight hours of it. but what you really love is your little girl. yes, nice pop toss! flag dancing? we've been there. and with free hot breakfast and a warm welcome, we'll be there for you. book direct for a guaranteed discount on your next weekend stay. hampton by hilton. on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to y

. >>> let's bring in barbara starr with some breaking news from the pentagon. what are you learning? >> good afternoon, ana. this is an air strike very much worth watching. it was done in specifics to protect u.s. troops on the ground in southern syria. this is an area where the pentagon is calling them pro regime forces but behind the scenes, these are a iranian-backed militias in southern syria that had been on the move towards an area where u.s. forces had been operating. they had been warned several times to keep their distance, to steer clear. the warnings were specific and multiple. but apparently earlier today, they began to move closer in and the u.s. moved against them conducting air strikes. there were about 60 of these militia forces. the u.s. striking some anti-artillery pieces, a tank and some other anti-aircraft weapons that these troops had on the ground in this area of southern syria. it is also believed that there are potentially russian-backed forces nearby. so what this is telling us, this area of eastern syria is becoming a very complex batt

i want to get straight to cnn correspondent barbara starr. rbara, what can you tell us? >> well, good day, boris. the u.s.-led coalition has just announced that it has shot down a syrian aircraft after a day of fighting on the ground in an area near raqqa. pro-syrian regime forces had attacked u.s.-backed fighters and had driven them from a key town, so there had been a lot of fighting on the ground between these pro-regime forces and the u.s.-backed forces. the u.s. came in, conducted a show of force with fighter jets. basically trying to scare off the pro-regime advance. they did that. they pushed them out of that area by pretty much scaring them off. but a short time later, a syrian su-22, a fighter, came back in and dropped bombs near the u.s.-backed fighters and a u.s. f-18 came in and shot down that syrian jet as part of a defense mission to protect the u.s. fighters, the u.s.-backed fighters on the ground. all of this in a critical location as the advance is beginning on raqqa. this is that area that is essentially isis' last stronghoed

pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us now with the details. >> this was in southern syria.ht away it's important to say this is the third time the u.s. has had to shoot something down in southern syria. we saw a fighter jet being shot down. second time now they're shooting down an armed drone in southern syria, a u.s. f-15 shooting down this iranian-made drone that the u.s. says was posing a threat. an armed threat to u.s. and coalition forces on the ground in southern syria. the shootdown happened because the u.s. says specifically the drone was in a threatening position. this is something that is -- appears to keep happening in this very area where the u.s. says it hopes things are going to calm down, but they are simply not. of course, this is one day after the russians said they would threaten any aircraft, any u.s. aircraft, flying in western syria. this is a war zone that appears to be heating up with russian regime and iranian-backed forces taking a much higher profile, john. >> we have more breaking news. we're getting word a russian fighter jet came within five fee

. >> cnn barbara starr joins us from the pentagon. would be a huge deal, but the claim seeps to be treated with skepticism over at the pentagon. what are they trying to do to verify this. >> the u.s. military has been able to verify that the day before they did have one of those deconfliction conversations with the russians. the russians said that on may 28th they'd be flying in this area and conducting air strikes. in fact the indications are that the russians did conduct some air strikes in the general area that they're talking about, but were there 300 isis operatives there along with the leader? as everyone is making the point, he is not someone that carelessly goes out and about. he is very secretive about his movements. that's how he supposedly has stayed alive all this time and away from u.s. drone and aircraft strikes. this is back on may 28th with 300 isis people be dead and no one in the world would have noticed? these are some of the big skeptical factors if you believe it was at that location. as paul cruickshank was just

joining me now, cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. f huge significance, barbara, to the united states. >> reporter: they are, john, and a huge significance to the united states military especially operating in the middle east. this is posing a dilemma for the military to try and figure out very quickly what this all means for u.s. military operations, especially in the fight against isis because the u.s. bases a good deal of its capability in qatar. they operate at that large air base known as al yudid. they run an operations center out of there that coordinates all the combat air operations in the region in the fight against isis. none of this is being seen as anti-u.s., but still, you know, no one knows what the next steps may be here diplomatically that could make it more difficult for the u.s. to operate in qatar. the secretary of state, rex tillerson, talking about the need for everybody to take a deep breath and sit down and talk about it a little earlier today. here's what he had to say. >> i think what we're witnessing is a gro

let's bring in cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. the simple question. why does the u.s. arab nations say is supporting terrorism? >> reporter: for years now the u.s. has been in qatar because it offers them one key thing, access to one of the military air bases from which the u.s. can operate, but now commercial eric traffic is cut off. television broadcasts are cut off and, of course, the next question is where will it all go from here? >> just as the u.s.-led coalition is approaching raqqa, isis' self-declared capital and is almost ready to declare victory over isis in mosul, the worst diplomatic crisis in years has erupted across the middle east with several of the u.s.' closest military allies. at least six nations, saudi arabia, bahrain, the united arab emirates, egypt, yemen and the maldives have cut off relations with qatar over claims it is supporting terrorism and is too close to iran which makes the u.s. led efforts to fight isis a bit more tricky. >> what we're witnessing is a growing list of some irritants in the region that have been there for some time and

barbara starr joins us from the pentagon.erday on this show that you broke the news about the activity that the administration had been seeing at that air base concerning them about another possible chemical weapons attack. has anything escalated from there? >> well, in fact, according to defense officials, it looks like it may be ratcheting down a little bit. to be clear, u.s. planes and ships remain on station and ready to present options to president trump if the syrians do move ahead. but a short time ago, defense secretary mattis told reporters traveling with him -- let me insert here, no television journalists were invited on that trip. so we are quoting reuters here. secretary mattis telling them that it looks like the syrians, in fact, backed off. separately, defense officials here telling me that does appear to be true. it looks right now like perhaps the syrians are not moving ahead, perhaps like president trump's warning worked. last night, national security aide talked about his view about this warning. have a lis

with me now, barbara starr, cnn pentagon correspondent.tagon believe that the threats from the administration are actually an effective strategy for syria? >> well, look, what they do believe right now and defense secretary james mattis traveling in europe is talking about this that the warning from the white house has resulted in assad pulling back. they had seen preparations that they believed were likely to lead to a potential -- pardon me -- chemical attack and now there's preparations do not appear to be going forward. but a couple of things also happened. the russians got involved at the behest of the united states. the u.s. knows that russia has a lot of influence with the syrians so the russians also played a key role by all accounts in get the syrians to pull back. right now, they are not seeing these preparations go forward, but let's be clear. the u.s. keeping a sharp eye on it because you never know when assad is going to change his mind and go ahead and potentially prepare another chemical attack on his own people. i don't thi

that's where barbara starr is. what have you learned about the happenings of this morning, also the victims and also what you're learning about the shooter? >> reporter: well, brianna, we're just about 25 minutes south of you at the site of the attack this morning. i want to mention, i think over my shoulder you can see a few minutes ago some very large black trucks that appeared on the scene. we're told that they are federal law enforcement vehicles, part of the investigation. the fbi now is leading at this site. many of the emergency vehicles have now departed but now a fully led fbi federal criminal investigation into what is an attack on the united states congress. the fbi agent who briefed reporters being very cautious, not offering a lot of detail, making the very point you mentioned, too soon to say whether this is an act of terrorism. some information coming out in the last few hours that it may be some politically motivated attack. but what we have are five people transported for emergency medical care. th

it's verbal right now but nerves are a bit frayed. >> barbara starr, thank you. keep an eye on that. consider what barbara just said and what's happening in syria, i want to take you back last week, a hearing on afghanistan. the president of thend h united states has given his defense secretary authority to set troop levels. john mccain is not happy. >> do you agree we are not winning in afghanistan? >> sir, i understand the urgency. i understand it's my responsibility. we are not winning in afghanistan right now and we will correct this as soon as possible. >> that was last week. senator mccain also writing an op-ed saying six months into the new administration, it still has not delivered a strategy. we cannot keep going like this. if the administration fails to develop a strategy for success, congress will need to play a greater role. we are five months into the administration. whether you are talking about the very tense situation in syria now or the president essentially outsourcing the decision about troop levels in afghanistan, is it fair to say the preside

>> barbara starr, great perspective. important to know so many great samaritans helping out in the response this morning as people scattered from the field offering them shelter and the like. thank you. let's get to brian todd right now at the hospital where victims are being treated. what can you tell us? >> reporter: john, i can tell you a short time ago, hospital fishes confirmed there are two victims from the shooting being treated here at medstar washington hospital center. one of them isps congressman steve scalise medevac'd here on a helicopter landing on a helipad to my left. he is currently in surgery. his staff says he is in stable condition. a second victim from the shooting is being treated here, as well. hospital officials not releasing that person's name or their condition at this time. we hope to get an update for you on that very soon. this hospital of course, known for treating trauma cases, emergency surgeries, shooting incidents, victims come here all the time from those shooting incidents. we have a h

barbara starr over at the pentagon.get back to our political and legal specialists as we're awaiting word on all of this. ryan lizza, let me quickly get your thoughts. the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, he put out what i would regard as a sort of bizarre statement. >> yeah. >> about the news media, and anonymous statements. let me read it to you. americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous officials, particularly when they do not identify the country let alone the branch or agency of government with which the allege sources are allegedly affiliated. americans should be skeptical about anonymous allegations. the department of justice has a long-standing policy to neither confirm or deny such allegations. it's a very strange statement. it sounds like something that the white house or the president may have told him, you know, go after these anonymous sources. they deny that, by the way. >> a lot of people have speculated that. the justice department has said that

we have more from the pentagon and barbara starr with the reaction. >> alisyn, the u.s. military and

>> all right, barbara, barbara starr at the pentagon. thanks very much.nt to get back to congressman eric swalwell. congressman, do you believe these incidents with russia will encourage president trump to take the threat posed by putin more seriously? >> in two thoughts, wolf, first, whether it was bad judgment or collusion, time will tell. but the president through his campaign and this administration has drawn us awfully close to russia. and you have to ask what have we gotten out of it? we know what russia has gotten. they got the president to reduce the role of nato. he's given them nas national security secrets in the oval office. russia is threat nipping our armed forces and the people who serve our country. the other thought, wolf, it looks like we are at war in syria. but this would be a war that would be without the authorization of congress. and it's time that congress votes on what is the time line, what is the troop commitment, and what is the terrain that is covered. >> today the white house press secretary sean spicer wouldn't answer whethe

>> all right, barbara starr at the pentagon. thanks so much. we'll be right back.s your big idea for getting the whole country booking on choice hotels.com. four words, badda book. badda boom... let it sink in. shouldn't we say we have the lowest price? nope, badda book. badda boom. have you ever stayed with choice hotels? like at a comfort inn? yep. free waffles, can't go wrong. i like it. promote that guy. get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. when you book direct at choicehotels.com. book now. i wanted to know where i did my ancestrydna. the most shocking result was that i'm 26% native american. i had no idea. it's opened up a whole new world for me. ♪ >>> thanks so much for watching "360." time to hand it over to don lemon. "cnn tonight" starts right now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news on the russia investigation. president trump takes a victory lap after his party's election win in georgia, again. [ cheers and applause ] this is "cnn tonight." the president goes to his happy place in front of a cheering crowd in iowa. >> it's always t

. >> with us, cnn international editor, nic robertson and barbara starr. what's the word on the ground and syria. >> what we're beginning to hear, while the u.s. military is still watching very very closely, for now, it does not look like assad has made additional moves on preparations for chemical attacks. has he paid heed to this warning, the old cliche is true, time will tell. right now, the u.s. military has everything in place, all the options ready if there was to be any indication assad is moving towards a chemical weapons attack, they are prepared to give president trump all the options to carry out a u.s. strike. it's everything you would think of. you know, ships and aircraft in the mediterranean, aircraft in the stations already in the region dealing with isis and syria in iraq. what they are really doing is keeping intelligence and reconnaissance over that syrian air base 24/7 to make sure he is pulling back and is he pulling back and not moving ahead with another chemical weapons attack. >> one of the president's top advisors on this network s

barbara starr joins us as well as rick francona. thank you for being with us. st to you, what does this mean from russia, exactly? >> we have to see how it unfolds. it was a few hours ago the russian ministry in moscow made the announcement. it's somewhat of a political announcement by the russian government that they don't want to talk on the communications line that's been going between the u.s. and russia military. they don't fly in the same air space, they let each other know where they are going to be and the russians saying they would treat anything flying in western syria as a target. what the u.s. says right now, the decon flix line remains open and they don't think they are being targeted by the russians. but things are very unsettled these days. i think it is fair to say they are keeping a very sharp eye on it. this appears to be the russian response to the u.s. shooting down that syrian fighter over the weekend. john? >> colonel, what is your reaction in what so far are just words, albeit, heated words. >> after the u.s. missile strike on the air base

we have cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr and cnn military and diplomatic analyst rear admiraly. barbara, what's the sense from the pentagon? any sense for how this happened? >> a lot of bewilderment. this doesn't happen. the navy doesn't have these kinds of catastrophic collisions at sea. what we're learning is how catastrophic it really was. think of what this crew was facing. it was dark. they had been in a collision. water is pouring into the ship, both beneath the waterline. they have damage above ground. the container ship and the navy ship hit exactly where the berthing compartment was and where communications were. the ship lost communications on board, dark, trying to struggle to survive, to save the ship and can't even communicate properly with each other. it was a catastrophe that befuddled everyone now, how it happened, but it will be fully investigated. >> john, help the rest of us to understand. aren't there radar systems on board, collision avoidance equipment that should have been sounding alarms or doing something? >> there are a fabric of sensors that a sur sf

cnn's barbara starr is live for us at the pentagon with more. barbara what are you learning? >> reporter: good morning, clarissa. defense secretary james mattis continuing to say war with north korea would be a disaster, but, indeed, military options have been updated because of the concern that north korea is making fast progress in its ballistic missile and's nuclear warhead test program. and the red line essentially has always been that north korea would not be allowed to have a weapon that could potentially attack the united states. now, yesterday the national security adviser, general h.r. mcmaster, laid it out in public. >> the threat is much more immediate now, and so-so it's clear that we can't repeat the same approach, failed approach of the past. and there's a recognition that there has to be more pressure on the regime, and i think what you'll see in coming days and weeks are efforts to do that. >> reporter: efforts of diplomacy. you can readily assume the u.s. military always has options for north korea. so what is different now? well, u.s. officials are saying th

first let's go to pentagon correspondent barbara starr with the north korea threat. barbara, we are hearing new urgency from the national security advisor. >> reporter: good evening, wolf. the language tougher, growing more ushlgt. a couple days ago president trump said the north korea threat might have to be dealt with rapidly. that's the president's words. now we know why. cnn can report that two defense officials say military options have recently been updated and are ready for the president if he were to make a decision to proceed with military action. they are ready because now the u.s. is watching very carefully every ballistic missile test, the possibility of an underground nuclear test, and watching all of this to see when north korea is able to make some significant advance in its ability to have a weapon that could attack the united states. national security advisor general h.r. mcmaster laying it all out just a short time ago. >> the threat is much more immediate now, and, so, it's clear that we can't repeat the same approach, failed approach of the past. t

cnn's barbara starr is live at the pentagon with breaking details. ds like things are escalating, barbara. >> good morning, alison. this word coming from the russian ministry of defense in moscow a short time ago. all of this centering around the shootdown of a syrian su22 aircraft in syria yesterday by a u.s. navy f-18. said to be attacking u.s. backed fighters on the ground. russians putting out a statement saying they will no longer cooperate as they have been with the coalition and the u.s. on what they call -- basically a phone line that they talk on about where they're flying over syria and how they stay out of each other's way. what does this all mean? >> military to military, u.s. to russian military. they quietly talk and make sure they stay out of each other's way. there seems to be a lot of ire, anger, if you will, on part of the russian ministry of defense, making this very strong statement this morning and saying in the areas where they operate that basically any other objects in the air, if you will, will be treated as potential -- they

. >> barbara starr, thank you very much. boots on the ground or not, their lives are on the line. thanks so much to all of you for joining us, "a.c. 360" with anderson cooper begins right now. >>> good evening, thank you for joining us. we begin with what could be the rumblings of another major event. a close friend of the president came out of a meeting at the white house today and went on pbs news hour and said this about special counsel robert mueller. >> i think he's considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. i think he's weighing that option, i think its pretty clear by what one of his lawyers said on television reepcently. even though i don't think there's a justification and even though -- >> you don't think there's a justification for? >> for special counsel in this case, but robert mueller, he comes from a law firm that represents members of the trump family. he interviewed the day before or a few days before he was appointed special counsel with the president who was looking at him potentially to become the next fbi director. that hasn't been published, but it'

barbara starr, thank you so much.t trump tried to pressure north korea in a tweet a few minutes ago saying, quote, while i greatly appreciate the efforts of chinese president xi in china to help north korea, it has not worked out. at least i know china tried. this announcement comes just a day after american student otto warmbier died after being released from north korea. it has brought debate over how we should respond. >> it's a total disgrace what happened to otto. >> reporter: tonight pressure is building on the white house to hold north korean leader kim jong-un responsible for the death of otto warmbier. >> that should never, ever be allowed to happen, and frankly, if he were brought home sooner, i think the result would have been a lot different. >> reporter: the 22-year-old student seen here at his high school graduation -- >> this is our season finale. this is the end of one great show. >> reporter: -- was sentenced to hard labor for allegedly pulling down a propaganda banter in a hotel. president trump is c

cnn owes pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins me now. on into this riff have an impact in any way on the 11,000 u.s. troops who are stationed at the u.s. fwhas qatar? >> reporter: i think it's fair to say right now that the pentagon and state department certainly hope not. even today the pentagon spokesman told reporters off camera that the pentagon was grateful for qatar's support for having the 11,000 troops there in qatar. that's where they run the air combat missions out of for iraq and syria. it's vital. the state department very much focusing on the diplomacy, being very diplomatic in its language saying that it appreciates what qatar has done on the terrorism front, but that it had a lot more work to do so what this really underscores it is what everybody really knows. the middle east is not an easy place. qatar does have a relationship with iran, and the big concern, i would say right now, is will president trump's remarks perhaps, perhaps, push qualitiaqatar further into the iranian camp, the further opposite of what allies in th

barbara starr is joining me from the pentagon. barbara, when the headlines were coming out, the statement coming, what is going on here? >> right now, the pentagon is, i think, fair to say as a political statement from the kremlin, they want to not engage in this communication with the u.s. military and syria anymore as a result of the shootdown of the russian/syrian jet by the united states. let's unpack this a little bit. the u.s. did shoot down a syrian jet over the weekend that it said was bombing and attacking near u.s. backed forces, it was a self-defense move and had every right to do that under the rules of the road out there and the syrian regime forces had been attacking u.s. backed forces that the u.s. was going to defend. that action now prompting the kremlin this morning. the ministry of definance to say we are not going to talk to the u.s. anymore about deconflicting air space and staying out of everybody's way. the u.s. says that communications line is still open. that will have to be watched carefully. the russians

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barbara starr is live at the pentagon on what prompted this unusual white house warning. what is the big question? >> reporter: it is indeed, john. start with last night. it was late last night when the white house issued this very unexpected statement that you just referred to causing a lot of questions about what was going on. and what we know now this morning is that the u.s. has been watching intelligence at a syrian air base, and for the last several days have seen activity there that suggests another chemical weapons attack was being planned over the last 24 hours leading us to the statement last night. growing urgent concern. there was a syrian aircraft there, the possibility of chemical weapons being loaded on to that aircraft. a possibility. and that is what led the white house to put this statement out taking a much different tact than we'd seen perhaps in the past. trying to say bluntly to the syrian regime to bashar al assad we see you, know what you're doing. don't do it. there will be a price to pay. but also sending a message to moscow saying, use your infl

barbara starr is live for us at the pentagon. what's the latest there, barbara? >> good morning, brianna. the ominous statement from the white house overnight, and so far this morning, no clarification about what they're talking about. let's get right to that statement, and it says in part, let me quote, "the united states has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children." the statement goes on to say that if syria were to carry out such an attack it would pay "a heavy price." no clarification from the white house, the pentagon, or the state department, about what is really behind all of this, what the intelligence is, what the u.s. knows and what preparations it may be making. is this a new red line from the president? is it another u.s. counter attack in the works? we simply do not know the answer at this point. the kremlin this morning speaking out about all of this, saying that the u.s. statement, what it views as a threat to atta

let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr and our cnn correspondent paula hancock who's in korea. tell us what you know about north korea's under ground nuclear test site. >> reporter: spy satellites certainly picked up some activity at one of the tunnel accesses so that site. and one of those tunnels would hold the nuclear device that will be tested if they hold another nuclear test. they really don't know whether kim is on the verge of ordering a sixth nuclear test. but there's some concern about all of this because the u.s. has been relying on china, under the trump administration to really pressure the north koreans to ratchet back on their weapons development program. if there is a new nuclear test in the coming days, the feeling is that's a signal that chinese pressure is not working. u.s. commanders have long updated military options for president trump, nobody is saying he's going to use them, nobody's suggesting there will be u.s. military action, but those military options have recently been updated so they will be ready for president trump if he decides he wants

cnn correspondent, barbara starr has more on this. what is the pentagon saying today?er: what we know, kate, is they have been watching this intelligence on the air base for some days. it's the same base the syrians used to launch their chemical attack this killed so many. now, they are seeing more activity and intelligence in the last 24 hours. a lot of concern was growing. they saw and aircraft near the shelter and chemical weapons capability ammunitions at the air base. they began to put the pieces together, believing it was all leading up to the possibility of syria launching another chemical attack. the warning comes out last night just as that, a warning. a warning to the syrians. we see what you are doing, don't do it and a warning to moscow to use its influence to try to persuade assad to back off and not to do it. you know, the russians were said by the u.s. to have known about the last attack back in april, so this time, the trump administration really trying to send that message to moscow, use your influence, don't let assad do this at all. kate? >> we'll ha

we have more from the pentagon and barbara starr with the reaction. >> alisyn, the u.s. military and intelligence community looking at reports. what we know is every time they get one of the reports, they proceed by looking at social media and communications intercepts and telephone intercepts to see if there is communication that al bagdadi has in fact been killed. they will look for that. they don't have that right now. will the russians have a boedy o show the world? that would be the actual evidence that would be most confirming. as to where al bagdadi may be. the key calculation the u.s. is looking at for the past several weeks. was al bagdadi in raqqah when the city was surrounded by u.s. and rebel forces? did he stay in the location he felt comfortable with his security on did he make a move? i want to put up a map and show everyone. this area southeast of raqqah from deir essor to al mayadin. this is an area they are looking at for a number of reasons. they talked about large numbers of isis fighters moved into the area southeast of raqqah. the leadership is ther