courtney kube, thank you so much. national security producer for nbc there at the pentagon giving us the latest in terms of what we know. i'll just repeat for you if you're just joining us now what we know about north korea and a missile launch that we are just getting information in to msnbc within the last 15 minutes. the u.s. military is aware of a launch. it came from sinpo in the northeastern part of north korea. they are still assessing some of the specifics, type of missile. potentially which way it was directed. the u.s. has also initiated their missile launch conference call to look at the options. to respond to this missile launch and we are waiting potentially for a statement from the region about what has happened. the associated press is reporting, not confirmed by nbc news, that there was a failed unidentified missile test. so we do not know whether it is any one of the three major types that we're aware of in terms of the distance, the size and the payload that they can carry, how they are weaponized. a

all of this was correctly reported this weekend by courtney kube who you saw there, our veteran pentagonr and today's "the new york times." so, general mccaffery, in this time when misinformation and lies and fake news are getting such wide discussion and circulation, i know you're reluctant to criticize your colleagues in the navy, except for one football game each year. this doesn't look good, general. >> no, you're right. i mean, as an element of keystone cops all over this. couple observations may be helpful. the u.s. navy knows where every ship in the global surface fleet is instantaneously, 24 hours a day. there is no question about that. it's all on electronic grid worldwide system. second observation, when yo send a carrier battle group, they don't steam along the shore three miles out from the beach. they're out there as a presence and normally we announce them. north koreans can't follow anything at sea. so, i think, you know, what happened was the administration canceled the australian deployment, but picked up the maneuvers that were close to where the ship was, and then they

. >> courtney kube our producer at the pentagon whose reporting led the way for so much of what we later learned was happening on the. courtney, thank you. >> thank you. >> as walls. >>> kevin barren is with us, he is a national security analyst for us. more important he is executive editor of defense one, does nothing but cover these matters for a living. kevin, what can you fill in about what you've learned about what they call the target package, the mission, for tonight? >> courtney summed it up pretty well out of the pentagon. we are hearing the same thing there. i am watching some of the military trackers and fans who are saying this is a pretty -- if you ever want to strike anything with cruise missiles this was the good place to do it. it had the right flight path, able to do a precision strike. what's really more interesting to me talking about the politics of this earlier is how -- this is the exact thing that a lot of national security watchers and professionals, including liberals, including obama types have been wanting for several years, something between the big giant iraq

. >> courtney kube who hasn't slept in the last 24 hours. thank you for helping us understand the process. we have much more ahead. stay with us. >>> there is a twitter account for the badlands national park. but there's also a bad hombre lands national park twitter account. it's not a national park. obviously the national park service itself also has a twitter account, but there is also a nasty women of the national park service twitter account. they call it, quote, the unofficial resistances team of nasty lady rangers that your elected officials warned you about. here's another one. this one's pretty blunt, not at all e.p.a. since president trump took office, one of the things that's happened online is dozens of parody accounts have popped up. they're usually pretty open about the fact they're alternative accounts. the alt department of energy on the alt department of labor, or the alt library of congress. there's also one account called alt immigration. it's the alternative account for the agency called the u.s. citizenship and immigratio

we'll start with nbc pentagon producer courtney kube and nbc's military analyst colonel jack jacobs.

. >> courtney kube who hasn't slept in the last 24 hours.understand the process. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> much more ahead tonight. do stay with us. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪ this scarf all that's my left to rememb... sayonara. what. she washed this like a month ago! the long lasting scent of gain. now available in matching scents across your entire laundry routine. adult 7+ promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) the difference has been incredible. she is much more aware. she wants to learn things. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs. you're going to be hanging out in here. so if you need anything, text me. do you play? ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before. you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's ne

. >> courtney, you're talking about the message that this sends, and i want to get kelly kube in on this. what is this aggression we're seeing from the president of the united states? >> reporter: katy, you're certainly seeing it in every newspaper, it's in every newscast, that dramatic video of the mother of all bombs being dropped on afghanistan. people are talking about it. it's a bit of a muted response, though, on an official level, in part because it's easter weekend already. today it a public holiday in the u.k. but look, the u.k. has very much a vested interest in what happens in afghanistan, a very cloe close partner in the united states with afghanistan. they still have a small number of troops to advise and assist the role to help the taliban there, so this will be playing very high on the agenda of british politicians, even if they're not speaking about it directly. european politicians as well. but i will say that this is sort of being played in the sense of, now he's done this. those are the kinds of headlines that are popping up on newspapers, that this is the latest in a

. >> nbc news national security producer courtney kube.lly appreciate it. >>> we have much more ahead tonight. do stay with us. stay with me, mr. parker. when a critical patient is far from the hospital, the hospital must come to the patient. stay with me, mr. parker. the at&t network is helping first responders connect with medical teams in near real time... stay with me, mr. parker. ...saving time when it matters most. stay with me, mrs. parker. that's the power of and. (healthy weight becausel the first ingredient is chicken. (riley) man, this chicken is spectacular! (jessica) i feel like when he eats beneful, he turns into a puppy again. you love it, don't you? you love it so much! (vo) and now try new beneful grain free, simply made with wholesome ingredients, and no grain. 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 b

. >> courtney kube at the penta n pentagon. as we learn more, we'll bring you the details. courtney, thank you for that. quick break here. on the other side, much more on the bombing we're telling you about in eastern afghanistan, including why the u.s. chose that particular target. and what that could mean if this is a successful venture today, what that could mean for the future fight against terrorism. >>> plus, a narrow loss in the kansas special election is sparking new optimism for democrats. they think they could be competitive in a lot of red districts in the 2018 midterms. up next, i'm going to take a trip over to the big board and we're going to break down the next big special election. it's only a couple days away. it is in georgia. democrats just don't think they can put a scare into republicans here, they are talking about winning it. over to the big board, after this. we can't stay here! why? terrible toilet paper! i'll never get clean! way ahead of you. charmin ultra strong. it cleans better. it's four times stronger... ...and you can use less. enjoy the go wi

. >> courtney kube, thank you. >>> the president's decision to bomb the airfield comes with a historym opposing further entrenchment into a conflict in which he said, quote, there was no upside and a tremendous downside. in fact, here's what then candidate trump had to say about engaging in the syrian war just a week before election day. >> hillary and our failed washington establishment have spent $6 trillion on wars in the middle east that we never won and that never end. now she wants to start a shooting war in syria in conflict with a nuclear armed russia and could lead to world war iii. >> so now the president says it was the images of dead innocence that moved him to act. as a globalist president trump sur planting the nationalist president trump that stormed his way to syria and will the action lead to a further effort? joining me is secretary of state for john kerry and barry mck mccaffrey. thank you for joining me. i appreciate it. john, i'll start with you. showing you some of the instances in which there were many, in which president trump tweeted against military action in

. >> courtney kube who hasn't slept in the last 24 hours.nk you for helping us understand the process here. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> we got much more ahead tonight. stay with us. ication. like centurylink's broadband network that gives 35,000 fans a cutting edge game experience. or the network that keeps a leading hotel chain's guests connected at work, and at play. or the it platform that powers millions of ecards every day for one of the largest greeting card companies. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. can make any occasion feel more special.ie so she makes her pie crust from scratch. and sprinkles on brown sugar streusel. so that you can spend more time making special moments with your family. marie callender's it's time to savor there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation if my plans change. visit booking.com. booking.yeah. ...one of many piece

we'll start with nbc pentagon producer courtney kube and nbc's military analyst colonel jack jacobs. what do we know about this bomb? >> so, it's the largest non-nuclear bomb that the u.s. military has in its arsenal. it's 21,000 pounds. it was dropped from a u.s. aircraft. as far as we know, this is the first time that this specific munition was dropped on the battlefield. it's been tested before, but actually on the battlefield. it was targeted -- targeting a tunnel complex, going after isis fighters and potentially some leaders. we were told, i've been told by u.s. military officials it was a large contingent of isis fighters in this tunnel. isis has been a problem for the u.s. military in nangarhar province where we saw the strike today. it's been a problem that general nicholson has addressed several times and has now -- there is now an active specific offensive meant to deal specifically with isis there. we saw that was in the news just recently when a u.s. military special operations forces soldier was killed as part of that fight, not far from where this munition was dropped.