. >> the new secretary of defense lloyd austin was the us forces in iraq. and any of the proxy groups. we know the foreign minister met with the syrian counterpart and we expect to hear what came of that meeting sometime today. todd: the house will vote on a relief bill today. jillian: it comes as the senate parliamentarian deals blow to democrats ruling against the $15 minimum wage hike. todd: what happens next? >> elizabeth mcdonagh delivered a hard punch to the crowd, senate parliamentarian backing the minimum wage increase under special budget reconciliation rules. that was met with disappointment at the white house but also termination to move forward. >> the only way to contain this pandemic and help the american people as quickly as possible is passing the plan as quickly as possible. >> reporter: speaker pelosi said the minimum wage provision will stay in today's bill, house democrats believe the minimum wage hike is necessary, therefore this provision will remain on the floor tomorrow and also on the bill, $1,400 stimulus check, the unemployment be

secretary of defense lloyd austin. with. a record of it we were there we go. you were good or didn't read you lose sorry she ever lose your good good good good good good good. all right let's take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world at this hour the u.s. house of representatives has passed president joe biden's $1.00 trillion dollars current virus for the coronavirus relief package if approved by the senate next week it would give $1400.00 and most americans a bronze billions more to businesses schools and regional governments the house approval comes just days off of the code 19 death toll in the u.s. supposed 500000 people. i mean mons u.n. ambassador is calling on the united nations to use any means necessary to return elected leaders to power in the country ambassador sure moton made an emotional plea to the international community leaders not to recognize the military regime that seized power this comes as process continue across me and ma. in chile hundreds of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of the capita

secretary of defense lloyd austin. with. the target that we were there bill you know we did. hear you would talk about it or do you. believe sure good good good good good good good. ok let's take a look at some of the other stories making news at this hour i mean mons u.n. ambassador is calling on the united nations to use any means necessary to return elected leaders to power in the country. and made an emotional appeal to the international community the urged leaders knots to recognize the military regime that seized power comes as protests continue across spain mom. in chile hundreds of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of the capital some giago riot police used water cannon and tear gas against the crowds friday demonstrations have become a regular event as campaign is speak out against in quality and one of latin america's most developed nations. 400 prisoners have escaped in a jailbreak in haiti that claimed the lives of 25 people witnesses told reporters they saw gunman shoot at guards before the inmates fled local media say the jails director and th

secretary of defense lloyd austin has defended the move. toward whatever we do we. were bad but it. sure. sure. that's her attention now to some other stories making headlines at this hour. in myanmar local media say a woman was shot and killed during a crackdown on protesters escalated their pov dispersal measures on saturday firing rubber bullets tear gas and water chance to inspirations have been taking place since the military arrested elected leaders and seized power 4 weeks ago. in chile hundreds of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of the capital santiago riot police used water cannons and tear gas against the crowds friday demonstrations have become a regular event as campaigners of speak out against inequality in one of latin america's most developed nations. up. to 1400 prisoners have escaped in a jail break in haiti they claimed the lives of 25 people witnesses told reporters they saw gunmen shoot at guards before the inmates fled over media say the jails director and a powerful gang leader are among those killed authorities say some 60 prisoners have n

secretary of defense lloyd austin. with. a record of it we were there you know. you were pretty good or did we read you the story about lucia good good good good good good history. ok let's take a look at some of the other stories making news this hour i mean miles u.n. ambassador opposed the military coup in his country during an emotional speech to the u.n. general assembly on friday ambassador shore moton the international community to condemn the coup and refuse to recognize the military regime that comes as protests continue across me and mom. in chile hundreds of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of the capital some 2 jago nice used water cannon until gas against the crowds friday demonstrations have become a regular event as campaigners speak out against inequality in one of the latin america's most developed nations. 400 prisoners have escaped in a jailbreak in haiti that claimed the lives of 25 people witnesses told reporters they sold gunman shoots of gods before the inmates fled local media say the jails director and a powerful gang

secretary of defense lloyd austin said it was his recommendation and biden gave the final authorization on thursday morning. they said up to a handful of militants were killed in that airstrike. they come after a series of rocket attacks against u.s. and coalition attacks in erbil and then the green zone in baghdad itself. austin said it's part of the messaging here and john kirby backed this up. there will be a response and second to deter future rocket attacks. they made it clear it was iranian backed shia militias that struck the u.s. air force and it was the same militias responsible for the rocket attacks. up until now the u.s. hadn't attributed it to anyone and now pinpointing it on iranian backed shia militias. this comes at a crucial time for the biden administration when it comes to iran when it tries to figure out what to do and how to work diplomatically about iran's nuclear program. oren lieberman, cnn, the pent gone. >>> cnn's ben wedeman is live in erbil, iraq. a small calculated strike. what do you make of the size and scope of this response? >> reporter: i think there is

secretary of defense lloyd austin's first big move when it comes to domestic extremism is noting that military-wide standdown or review of policies and procedures in place already to deal with extremism. crucially that also includes discussions at all levels of the military. for example, the navy has already put out some guidance on this saying it has to review the navy's core values. the oaths of office as well as the rules that are already in place. in terms of the discussions austin has said it's also an opportunity for military leaders to listen to what their troops have to say to them about either experiences with domestic extremism or about ideas on how to tackle it. but one of the parts of this that's also obviously very necessary is the data, which is fundamentally lacking at this point about how widespread this problem is and where specifically it exists. don? >> oren liebermann. thank you so much for that. i really appreciate it. i want to bring in now mike german. he is a former fbi special agent and a fellow at the brennan center for justice. mike, good evening. thanks for

secretary of defense lloyd austin promised to take additional steps tstop such violence.hifrin reports, sexual assault in the military continues to rise, and individual families continue to be ripped apart. nick schifrin: when asia graham graduated from high school in 2019, she hoped the military would give her and her mother nicole a better life. >> she wanted to go into the military, make me her dependent, and have me staying in with her for the rest of my life. nick: anthony graham is asia's brother. >> even though my mom was a mom, my sister tried to act like a mom. nick: where do you think that sense of responsibility in her came from? >> we just raised a wonderful girl. nick: that girl became a woman in uniform. in december 2019, she arrived at fort bliss in texas, an 18-year-old soldier. >> she was a very, very proud soldier, and her basic training's 1st sergeant loved her and praised her. nick: but she left the military draped in a flag. she'd been found dead on new year's eve 2020 in her barracks at age 19. an initial army press release said -- "the iron eagle te

secretary of defense lloyd austin and defended the move. it was good that we were there but you know we. were packed with it or did we. lose sorry. good good good good good good restraint. secretary of defense lloyd austin there let's take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines at this hour in myanmar local media say a woman was shot and killed during a crackdown on protesters. well he's escalated their crowd dispersal measures on saturday firing rubber bullets tear gas and water cannons and stray sions have been taking place since the military arrested elected leaders and seized power 4 weeks ago. 400 prisoners have escaped in a jailbreak in haiti that claimed the lives of 25 people when he says told reporters they saw gunmen shoot at guards before the inmates fled local media say the jails director and a powerful gang leader are among those killed authorities say some 60 prisoners have now been recaptured. and thousands of pro-democracy activists have taken to the streets of algeria demonstrators are calling it the retur

take a look at the secretary of defense lloyd austin who spoke overnight. >> we're confident that that target was being used by the same shia militia that conducted the strikes. we were very deliberate about our approach as you would expect us to be we allowed and encouraged the iraqi to investigate and develop intelligence and that was very helpful in finding the target. >> reporter: now in a statement, this was conducted with diplomatic measureh coalition partners he also adds the operation sends an unambiguous message, president biden will act to protect. an observatory said overnight it killed at least seven iranian pro-fighters these strikes come just about a week after the white house voiced optimism and willingness to restart the iran nuclear talks. guys >> focus on the middle east. molly, thank you. >>> more than 46 million americans have gotten at least one dose of a covid vaccine, and by the end of the day, they could give approval to a third vaccine option tom costello has more on the big push to get shots in arms. >> reporter: with the countdown now to a matter of hours, an

. >> reporter: secretary of defense lloyd austin approved the deployment of 1,100 troops to five vaccination sites to help fema build vaccines sites. the first of these teams of 220 will deploy in the next ten days or so to one of two vaccines sites in california, either in oakland or in los angeles. that's up to fema, and it's unclear yet where those troops will be helping out. each team of 220 will have nurses, vaccinators, command and control, as well as clinical staff, general staff, and others to build up what are intended to be these mass vaccination sites. now, 1,100 troops is still far short of the full fema request for 10,000 troops. but at this point even fema has acknowledged that buildup to those sorts of numbers that could deliver up to 450,000 vaccinations a day would be incremental. so this, it appears, is just the beginning. one of the key questions here, how much vaccine supply is there and is there enough to put out so many troops. and that is a key question we'll be asking as this process moves forward. how long will each of these vaccination teams remain in place? that wi

launch strikes in syria targeting facilities used by militia groups backed by iran secretary of defense lloyd austin said he was confident they had hit the correct targets syrian authorities say at least 17 people were killed. a british born woman who left the u.k. as a teenager to during these so-called islamic state in syria has lost her high court bid to return to her country of birth the british government revoked shamima big arms citizenship back in 2019 are you she was bangladeshi by descent begun who is not a bangladeshi citizen challenge the decision which left her state ice. a boeing triple 7 cargo plane has made an emergency landing at moscow's sheremetyevo airport due to an engine problem the plane had a difference engine to the one that caught fire last week prompting boeing to ground all triple sevens using that engine type. the european union has agreed to develop a cool of it 19 digital vaccine certificate that could ease border crossings and allow people more freedom to travel again it was one of the measures up for debate at a virtual summit of e.u. leaders aimed at better coordinat

as a big surprise and you heard him just speak in the sound but called on his secretary of defense lloyd austin to analyze all global troop deployments and in the end that will mean it's very unlikely that this plan will succeed so the troops will stay in germany very likely that's a strong signal for transatlantic partnership budget joe biden will certainly also continue to ask for more money from its european partners and in that sense continue the line of donald trump his predecessor and what else did biden focus on in his speech. well he said america is back diplomacy is back so we're certainly witnessing a big major shift here in foreign policy he called for an end of the war in yemen said the u.s. would stop supporting the saudi let offensive there he called on a russian president vladimir putin to free election of all need to respect human rights so really a tougher stance here on russia he already entered the paris climate agreement on day one of his presidency so we are looking at a return of multilateralism and a strengthening of the old to the transatlantic partnership and quickly wh

secretary of defense lloyd austin. with. the target that we were there you know. you were going to get or did we read you the story of illusion good good good good good good the story. ok let's take a look at some of the other stories making news this hour the u.s. house of representatives has passed president joe biden's $1.00 trillion dollars coronavirus relief package if approved by the senate next week it would give $1400.00 to most americans it grants billions more to businesses schools and regional governments to house approval comes just days after the code 19 death toll in the u.s. some pasta 500000 people. in my local media say a woman was shot and killed during a crackdown on protesters police escalated the crowd dispersal measures on saturday firing rubber bullets tear gas and water cannons demonstrations have been taking place since the military arrested elected leaders and seized power 4 weeks ago. in chile hundreds of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of the capital some tiago police used water cannon and tear gas against the crowd

>> reporter: david, it's one of the first big moves from the new defense secretary lloyd austin, proving fema's request to help speed up vaccinations. the first wave will arrive in california in the next ten days with more missions to come. david? >> whit, thank you. >>> with the news of this third vaccine, the potential new weapon, and of course also that concern over the variants already being seen in this country, we know a lot of you at home have questions. let's bring in dr. ashish jha. dr. jha, as always, great to have you. we know the fda is set to meet february 26th right now to discuss johnson & johnson's emergency use authorization. you have said right here on this broadcast this single dose vaccine will be significant, 85% at preventing severe disease, 100% effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. you believe a true game-changer if approved? >> i do, and david, and thank you for having me on. this is important. we have to see the full set of data. the fda is going to do a careful review. once this vaccine becomes available it's easy to store, a single shot. it's go

in addition, i want to announce secretary of defense lloyd austin has approved fema's request to augment and expedite vaccinations across the country. he has ordered the first contingent of more than 1000 active duty military personnel to support state vaccination sites. part of this group will arrive in california within 10 days to begin operations there around february 15, with additional vaccination missions soon to follow. the military's critical role in supporting sites will help vaccinate thousands of people are day and ensure that every american who wants a vaccine will receive one. dod will providing a briefing this afternoon with more details. but i want to make sure you are aware of this important development in our whole of government response. i will turn it over to dr. wilensky. dr. wilensky: thank you. let's start with a snapshot of the pandemic. the u.s. continues to see a decrease in covid cases since the peak on january 8. the number of new cases february 3 are approximately 121,000, representing a 61% decrease since the peak january 8 similarly, the number of new hospit

launched strikes in syria targeting facilities used by militia groups backed by iran secretary of defense lloyd austin said he was confident they had hit the correct targets syrian authorities say at least 17 people were killed. russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been moved from a moscow jail to an undisclosed detention center his lawyers say he has likely been taken to a penal colony that only was sentenced to 2 years labor for breaching his parole while recovering in germany from a poisoning attack. hong kong has started the covert 1000 vaccination rollout for its 7 and a half 1000000 residents people over 60 and health care workers are prioritized to receive the shots 1st vaccines from china societal back are the 1st to be administered and kong is also struck deals with astra zeneca and biotech pfizer. now the european union has agreed to develop a kopek 19 vaccine passport that could ease border crossings and allow people freedom to travel again e.u. leaders met for a virtual summit to discuss coordination they're already under pressure over a lagging vaccine rollout germany's chancellor

the new defense secretary lloyd austin ordering what's called a servicewide stand-down over concerns over extremism within the u.s. military. what does this mean tonight? and it comes as prosecutors reveal nearly 20 suspects arrested for the deadly siege at the capitol are military veterans. martha raddatz with late reporting tonight. >>> the coronavirus here in the u.s. and news tonight on yet another potential vaccine and what's different about this one? could it not only he you, does it also help stop transmission of the virus? what dr. fauci is saying about that tonight. >>> the abc news investigation this evening. the black former nfl players accusing the league of discrimination. after filing dementia-related claims after suffering concussions on the field, they claim the nfl relies on different standards for black players and white players. and how the league responds tonight when asked about the very protocols those players cite in their case. >>> and america strong this evening, on the eve of the super bowl, the last-minute surprise from gronk and others. a super thank you f

and tonight, the new defense secretary lloyd austin has signed off on more than 1,100 active duty troops to help at vaccination sites across the country. and tonight on that new johnson & johnson vaccine, the fda has set the date for public review later this month. as we have seen before, authorization can come hours afterward. so how soon before we see those single shots? more vaccination sites are opening up. yankee stadium in new york just today. aiming for 15,000 shots a week. and on this super bowl weekend, authorities are asking americans to celebrate with those in their immediate household. dr. ashish jha answering your questions on this new single shot vaccine and on the variants seen in the u.s. are we doing enough to make sure these vaccines will be effective in the coming months against any mutations? what the doctor says in a moment, but we begin with whit johnson at yankee stadium tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the pentagon deploying troops to the front lines of the pandemic. more than 1,100 active duty service members, mostly medical personnel -- >> all right, here's the po

. >>> tonight, defense secretary lloyd austin said this about the first air strike ordered by president in syria used by iranian-backed forces. here's what the defense secretary said. >> we're confident that that target was being used for the same shia militia that conducted the strikes. we were deliberate about our approach, as you would expect us to be. we allowed and encouraged the iraqis to investigate and develop intelligence, and that was very helpful to us in refining the target. >> joining us now is ben rhodes, former deputy national security adviser to president obama. he's now an msnbc political analyst. you've billion about an in the room when these things have been considered and rejected and when they've been decided upon. what do you think it was like today for the president to make this choice? and the latest reporting on it is that it was a specific response to a specific action taken by those iranian-backed forces. >> look, it's the first time that joe biden has issued an order like this. even though he was in the room for eight years in these kinds of decisions, that's

just tonight defense secretary lloyd austin announced each branch of the u.s. military will schedule a 60 day stand-down to allow each service to have "needed discussions on extremism in the ranks." we will talk about this in same course of action with ron desantis and newt gingrich and moments. but first, no ransom for hostage takers. that's the focus of tonight's angle. this week, i reminded why a record number of americans turned out to vote for donald trump in november. like tens of thousands of people would show up at his rallies and wait for hours and extreme heat and bitter cold. they stuck with him during shame impeachments and the mueller investigation. they did all this because to them, he was a lasting standing between their families in the left-wing mob. before trump, conservatives had become used to milquetoast establishment republicans whose first instinct is to buckle when criticized in "the new york times" or "washington post." even though it's perfect, donald trump rightly refused to scrape and bow to the nastiest characters inside the boat wer

secretary of defense lloyd austin there now let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines at this hour. maher local media say a woman was shot and killed during a crackdown on protesters police escalated their proud dispersal measures on saturday firing rubber bullets tear gas and water tends to stray sions have been taking place since the military are arrested elected leaders and sues power. the u.s. house of representatives has passed president joe biden's want to point a 9 trillion dollar coronavirus relief package if approved by the senate next week it would give $1400.00 to most americans and grants billions more to businesses schools and regional governments house approval comes just days after the covert 1900 death toll in the united states surpassed 500000 people and here in germany a nationwide lockdown measures are in place until march 7th the federal government is urging caution when it comes to easing restrictions to quickly and many people are frustrated by the forced business closures travel to germany southern state of bavaria where some business owners say

launched strikes in syria targeting facilities used by militia groups backed by iran secretary of defense lloyd austinsaid he was confident they had hit the correct targets syrian authorities say at least 17 people were killed. an attack in western afghanistan has target the family of a murdered journalist reporter bismillah mark who was assassinated back in january on how gunmen stormed his home killing 3 family members it comes amid a rise in attacks on journalists and activists no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. the head of russia's jail is already says opposition leader election of ali has been moved from a moscow jail to a penal colony misson of all he was sentenced to 2 years labor for breaching his parole while recovering in germany from a poisoning attack un human rights of us a gator's are expected to issue findings on the sort of all these case on monday. the european union has agreed to develop a covert 19 that passport that could ease border crossings and allow people more freedom to travel again it was one of the measures up for debate at a virtual summit of leaders aimed a

assess the situation in terms of the defense secretary lloyd austin's moves. ng me, maria. at the defense department like any department in the united states government, when you stop trading in logic and fact you stop trading in politics. this is a prime example of what's been done at the defense department. by their own spokesperson and their own secretary of defense, they have said they do not know the problem and whether it exist and they don't have a name for it. they don't have a solution for it but they will label it anyway. they have self-admitted that the problem doesn't exist to their knowledge. that's because it doesn't, maria. in my two tours at the department of the department of defense, white supremacy is not ramped at the department of defense. that's offensive to men and women of the uniform. maria: doesn't this continue the narrative that nancy pelosi have to be afraid of within? kash: absolutely. it's the continued politicization of the defense department at the expense of our national security. under president trump we put the men and women

you talked about the pentagon and the secretary of defense lloyd austin, this is the person who failed"arm all these moderate rebels" in syria. wasted hundreds of millions of dollars, right where i stand right here where i'm sitting, there is fencing around the capitol. we learned today it cost half a billion dollars for the national guard deployment. we see the excess of money, we see the deployment of the entire surveillance state, things like with bank of america, the proposal of new laws. john brennan has come out and said people within the cia and others are beginning to hunt these "domestic extremists" here on american soil. don't let it be said, the cia is not even supposed operate on american soil, what is he saying there? this is one of the most dangerous episodes and in this case, the post-9/11 security m state is not even being monitored by the media or the people in the culture because they agree with the people who are --it they agree with the people who are hunting the hunted. >> tucker: after 9/11, we had at least a working definition and we talked a lot about it in publ

attacks against american and coalition forces in iraq, not long ago, the new secretary of defense, lloyd austin, briefed reporters on the air strike. >> we are confident that it was used by the same militia that encouraged the strikes. when e couraged them to develop and we are finding a target. >> what did the president -- >> it was today, yeah. >> was it this morning or -- >> it was this morning. >> these strikes come a week after the white house signaled its willingness to renew talks on a nuclear deal that president trump shelved. richard engel said tonight's military response was intended to send a message to iran. >> in this case, it is a message that president biden and the pentagon are sending districtly to iran. even though president biden wants to negotiate, it does not mean to it's open season. i sigh see it absolutely as the stick in the carrot and stick process of diplomacy. >> the president is also trying to congress to pass his almost 2 trillion dollar relief bill. the $150 an hour minimum wage in case cannot be included in the bill. it affecting millions of americans. tonight, n

launch strikes in syria targeting facilities used by militia groups backed by iran secretary of defense lloyd austin said he was confident they had hit the correct targets syrian authorities say at least 17 people were killed. a british foreign woman who left the u.k. as a teenager to join the so-called islamic state in syria has lost her high court bid to return to her country of birth the british government revoked shamima begum citizenship and 2019 arguing she was bangladeshi by descent who is not a bangladeshi citizen challenge the decision which has left her stateless the head of russia's jail authority says opposition leader alexa not only has been moved from a moscow jail to a penal colony of all he was sentenced to 2 years labor for breaching his parole while recovering in germany from a poisoning attack un human rights investigators are expected to issue findings on the ball nice case on monday the european union has agreed to develop a covert 19 vaccine passport that could ease border crossings and allow people more freedom to travel again e.u. leaders met for a virtual summit to discuss c

biden defense secretary, lloyd austin, has made a stunning move. he has ordered a military wide stand-down to critics are saying that alexandria ocasio-cortez was exaggerating her experience at the capital, even though she wasn't in the building during the capital attack. >> i just hear "where is she? where is she?" this was the moment where i thought everything was over. i thought i was going to die. ♪ ♪ sis... or psoriatic arthritis, little things, can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream... ...it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable... ...with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, ...otezla is proven.... to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an... increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you ha

as a big surprise and you heard him just speak in the sound but called on his secretary of defense lloyd austin to analyze all global troop deployments and in the end that will mean it's very unlikely that this plan will succeed so the troops will stay in germany very likely that's a strong signal for transatlantic partnership budget joe biden will certainly also continue to ask for more money from its european partners and in that sense continue the line of donald trump his predecessor and what else did biden focus on in his speech. well he said america is beck diplomacy is spec so we're certainly witnessing a big major shift here in foreign policy he called for an end of the war in yemen said that the u.s. would stop supporting the saudi let offensive there he called on a russian president vladimir putin to free election of all need to respect human rights so really a tougher stance here on russia he already entered the paris climate agreement on day one of his presidency so we are looking at a return of multilateralism and a strengthening of the old to the transatlantic partnership and quick

launched strikes in syria targeting facilities used by militia groups backed by iran secretary of defense lloyd austin said he was confident they had hit the correct targets syrian authorities say at least 17 people were killed. a british born woman who left the u.k. as a teenager to join the so-called islamic state in syria has lost her high court bid to return to her country of birth the british government revoked big them citizenship and 2019 arguing she was bangladeshi by descent who is not a bandit bangladeshi citizen challenge the decision which left her stateless bad of russia's jail authorities says opposition leader alexei navalny has been moved from a moscow jail to a penal colony dhaval he was sentenced to 2 years labor for breaching his parole while recovering in germany from a poisoning attack un human rights investigators are expected to issue findings on of all these case on monday. now the european union has agreed to develop a covert $1000.00 vaccine passport that could ease border crossings and allow people more freedom to travel again e.u. leaders met for a virtual summit to discuss

defense secretary lloyd austin ordering a service-wide standdown for 60 days to give military leaderscame after the pentagon was surprised to find veterans and active duty service members among the capitol rioters last month. leo shane, how big of an issue is it? >> that's the question, the military hasn't done good surveys up to this point to find out how many folks are affiliated we've done it at our paper, 1/3 of all service members and half of minority service members reported seeing some signs of extremism or white supremacy the military thinks that's high but never looked at data whether or not we're right, we think they are, or whether or not they're right and it's a very small problem. >> based on your reporting at military times, is extremism new, always an issue, growing? >> this has been an issue for some time. especially white nationalists groups like to recruit military groups because of the skills they bring proficiency in firearms, planning skills and military assault skills these are desirable things if you have crazy ideas of waging a revolution we know they're target

announcer:earlier today, president biden, vice president harris and secretary -- defense secretary lloyd austin, delivered remarks to the military. >> it is a tremendous privilege to welcome president biden and vice president harris to the department of defense. their visit to the pentagon shows the importance that they place on our national security and the deep value they place in the men and women of our department. i've had the privilege of working closely with president biden to tackle tough issues under intense and often high-pressure situations and i know firsthand his commitment to defending our nation and steadfast support of the men and women that he now leads as our commander-in-chief. he knows the necessity of making tough choices with regards to our scarce resources and the importance of revitalizing our alliances and our partnerships. and he knows we in this department will always be ready to fight and win should he call upon us. but he also believes that his first call should be to our diplomats with us in full support. and when the president talks about leading from a position o

secretary of defense lloyd austin has made the fight against domestic extremism one of his top priorities>> this tears at the very fabric of cohesion and it's important for us to be able to trust the men and women on our left and right. >> extremism has been a problem in the military for decades. austin says he believes the number of extremists in the military is low. there is no data to back up his assertion. austin has revealed a policy. heidi byron said this will take time. >> this is a massive management task and it's not going to be something that's done very easily at all. >> reporter: the military has strict legal limits on screening and background checks it can do of applicants and service members. deeper, more intrusive investigations require working with the fbi, a key recommendation of the d.o.d. report. they say they need a better process to screen out people. >> i would say you need to fix your screening policies. social media accounts need to be taken a look at, not just voluntarily, but seriously. you need a functioning tattoo database and they need to be trained in the sig

secretary of defense lloyd austin will meet with his nato counterparts.expected to press him on the u.s. strategy in afghanistan. the biden administration says this is a priority. the first option is to simply withdraw the remaining troops. that can easily being seen as defeating the taliban and handing the country over to them and perhaps a civil war. second option is to hold the remaining 2500 troops there and that can invite attacks on u.s. troops from the folly ban. the third option broadly speaking is to try to renegotiate the agreement or find wiggle room to keep troops in country. the difficulty there, they're keeping troops and renegotiating the agreement and could invite attacks from the taliban. the difficulty is the biden administration has to make a decision based on the options fairly soon. that's where the pressure comes in as the u.s. is trying to figure out what to do with a 20-year war. >>> a deadly winter storm crippling a huge part of the country. texas at a virtual standstill for days to come. feels so cold in little rock we can't even

reporter: completely different topic, which is that different secretary lloyd austin --defense secretary lloyd austin wrote a memo that i wonder if you could talk about if it is a white house commission, defense commission, who picks the commissioner. ms. psaki: i believe it is a commission at the department of defense that is an initiative the president of the united states supports, but i would send you to the department of defense for more specifics. go ahead. reporter: [indiscernible] you have got covid, 400,000 americans dead. january 6, the attack on american democracy. there have been calls for 9/11- style commission to write the official history of those events. is that something the present with support? ms. psaki: covid commission? determination of that kind would be made by congress. his focus at this point in time is addressing the crisis at this moment, which is ensuring that more americans get shots in their arms, that we are getting the pandemic under control. there has been a report by hhs looking at the prior administration's handling of the covert crisis, and we have to

it echos what our new secretary of defense, lloyd austin, rolled out in brussels over the last two daysdefense ministerial. in addition to the excellent points kelly raises, i will add that it's very reassuring to the europeans to hear that we want to work with you to resolve the challenges of iran. that, of course, was an agreement that cratered under the trump administration. the fact that the biden team went to brussels, not just jumping back with tehran, very reassuring. the message will land very, very well in europe. >> let's talk about climate policy as well. we heard president biden mention that in his speech. former secretary of state john kerry, who is president biden's special envoy for climate, he will speak in a few hours at this same conference. i spoke with secretary kerry a couple weeks ago. i asked him about the paris climate agreement and the president's commitment to it. here is part of the conversation. does the paris agreement need to be stronger? >> yes. absolutely, yes, it has to be stronger. one of my missions on behalf of the president and the country is to help

secretary of defense lloyd austin said as he was coming back from a trip to the west coast that it was at his recommendation, but it was biden that gave the final authorization earlier today for an air strike along the iraq/syria border in syria, eastern syria, that is. the target was iranian-backed shia militias that were operating there, and this comes after a series of rocket strikes targeting different areas with u.s. and coalition forces in erbil, just north of baghdad and the green zone in baghdad itself. it was austin who said that the sites that were targeted here were used by the same iranian-backed shia militias that he is confident launched those rocket attacks against u.s. forces. a u.s. defense official says up to a handful of militants were killed in these strikes. they're waiting to find out more information, a battle damage assessment, but here is what secretary halftiaustin had to s little earlier this evening. >> we're confident that target was being used by the same shia militia that conducted the strikes. we encourage the iraqis to investigate and develop intelligen

that's all i'm going to say, guys. >> defense secretary lloyd austin. that was tonight. we just got in the tape moments ago speaking about the first military operation of the biden administration, these air strikes on iranian-backed militias in syria. the administration says they are in response to rocket attacks that targeted u.s. and coalition forces in iraq. you just heard defense secretary austin there say it was president biden who authorized these strikes, and he did so this morning per the defense secretary's read out to reporters tonight. joining us for more is nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. richard, i didn't expect to have you back on the show so soon after talking with you last night on a totally different matter. thanks for joining us on short notice tonight to help us through this. >> not a problem. and i was speaking a short while ago with a senior u.s. official with direct knowledge of this. this was a message to iran and iranian-backed militias according to this official. and the message was that the united states will no longer tolerate

secretary of defense lloyd austin says the strike was on his recommendation and he is confident thatarget. >> we're confident that that target was being used by the same shia militia that contracted the strikes. >> cnn learned this morning that the original plan was to strike two sites but the second location was scratched because of concerns about possibility of civilians who might be endangered in the area. i'm joined now by retired u.s. air force colonel cedric leighton who is an analyst and also a burn fellow at the washington institute for near east policy. he's worked with iraq since the 1990s, embedding with forces and the iraqi militia. you predicted something like this would happen. explain that and tell us what the response from iran might be. >> it's not surprising the first test of biden would be in iraq. the iran militia is trying to see what happens now that trump is not there. they knew trump would not hit back hard, they weren't sure the biden administration would. the message here is the biden administration is capable of holding the line when it comes to detaining m

secretary of defense lloyd austin made the fight against domestic extremism one of his top priorities fabric, very fabric of cohesion and it's important for us to be able to trust the men and women on our left and right. >> reporter: extremism has been a problem in the military for decades. austin says he believes the number of extremists in the military is low but there is no data to back up his assertion. austin ordered a review of policies on extremism but extremism expert heidi byring says this will take time. >> this is a massive management task and not something done easily at all. >> reporter: the military has limits on the screening and background checks, deeper more intrusive investigations require working with the fbi, a key recommendation of the dod report. beirich says the military needs a better screening process to root out extremism before it enters the ranks. >> i would say you need to fix your screening procedures immediately, social media accounts need to be taken a look at, not just voluntarily but seriously. you need a functioning tattoo data base for your recruite

million for its role in advising businesses on how to sell more opioid painkillers secretary of defense lloyd austines of the armed forces to take time to address extremism in its ranks this after current and former members of the military took part in the capitol hill riot. >>> and the world health organization says breast cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer this comes on world cancer day the group says more than one in five people will develop cancer during their lifetimes you are up to date i'll see you againn hr. ianou (♪ ♪) keeping your oysters growing while keeping your business growing has you swamped. (♪ ♪) you need to hire i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base so you can start hiring right away. claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo (upbeat music) - we did it! (crowd cheering) - [narrator] wherever you start, snhu is where you can finish. (crowd clapping) (crowd cheering) - here we go. - [narrator] and it's it. - [group] yay! -

secretary of defense lloyd austin said he recommended the strikes and biden himself gave the authorization on thursday morning. a u.s. defense official said a handful of militants were killed in the strikes. the strikes come after the recent rocket attacks against u.s. and coalition forces in erbil and in the green zone itself. >> we're confident that target was being used by the same shia militia that conducted the strikes. we allowed and encouraged the iraqis to investigate and develop intelligence and that was very helpful to us in refining the target. >> reporter: it's important to note the messaging here. this was not a strike against a major site, it was proportional and meant to send a message. there will be a response for future rocket attacks. this was a deterrent against any future rocket attacks. it was a response to previous rocket attacks we've seen over the last few weeks here. it comes at a critical time for the biden administration as they try to figure out the positioning and seeks to work out some agreement with iran over the nuclear program. it comes at a very sensitive