base at erbil. we'll have a live report from erbil and teheran and other experts in the field. for us as citizens here, our responsibility now has to include the ability to process multiple things at once. and so, yes, we are going to talk in as much detail as we can about the fact these two air bases were apparently hit by iranian ballistic missiles tonight. we are still awaiting damage reports in terms of the impact of those missile launches. speaking in rough terms, there are known to be about 1500 u.s. and coalition forces iraqi forces at the air base in an bar province in iraq. erbil is fluid. as far as we understand, the use of that erbil base is used as a transit base. that means that the numbers there wax and wane depend on what's happening in operations in syria. noerk "the new york times" estimates there are hundreds at the air base in erbil. widen the lens to consider the other locations where u.s. forces are sitting in iraq right now, which include some of the facilities we have mapped here in fallujah, in an bar, in taji, in balad. u.s. forces are the ones who will

hundreds based here in erbil. as you say, senior american source saying there are no american casualties at this moment, although the situation remains flutd and assessment is still going on. david? >> and martha raddatz in tehran. late word from iran tonight? >> reporter: no late word on exactly what happened, but they are saying this about qassem soleimani, the man killed by the u.s. drone strike, they are saying the body of general soleimani is being buried now after taking revenge of his blood, now his body is being buried. there, of course, has been an outpouring of grief for soleimani this week and an outpouring of anger, shouts of revenge. now the iranian officials feel they have gotten that, saying this is a great victory against the great satan. david? >> martha raddatz, who has been in tehran for several days now. our thanks to you and our team across the region tonight. president trump will not be speaking to the american people tonight, instead, waiting until tomorrow to get all the facts in. i'm david

the pentagon says at least two sites were hit in erbil and al—asad west of baghdad.t says the missiles were launched from iran itself. iranian state tv says the attack was launched in revenge for the us assassination of the iranian general, qasem soleimani. the white house says president trump has been briefed and is monitoring events. our news reporter gareth barlow is with me. of course this is a developing story which has been going on for about two and a half hours now, but i think it would be worth reminding ourselves from the beginning what has been happening. it was around two o'clock in the morning local time in iraq when there were reports of six missiles being fired at and striking the al—asad airbase. this is an iraqi airbase that also houses us troops and coalition troops. that figure of the number of missiles has increased, the pentagon now says at least a dozen ballistic missiles we re least a dozen ballistic missiles were fired against us military coalition forces and iraqi. we know that they have attacked two sites, one in erbil, in kurdistan region a

richard engel in erbil in northern iraq for us. we mentioned our leadoff discussion. let's bin now with retired four-star u.s. army general barry mccaffrey, a decorated combat veteran of vietnam, former battlefield commander notably in the persian gulf. phil rucker, pulitzer prize-winning white house bureau chief for "the washington post." brett mcgurk, the former special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat isis. and our foreign affairs analyst here in new york, our own ayman mohyeldin, who has reported extensively of course from that region. and at the department of defense, courtney kube, nbc news correspondent covering national security in the pentagon. and, courtney, we need to start with you and go over a few things. first and foremost, something people are picking up on their phones in just the time we came on before the air. this is a report out of tehran that a ukrainian commercial airliner has gone down with 180 souls onboard. normally we'd be tempted to say there's no relation, but coming off a night where iranian air defenses have been on

meanwhile the base near erbil in northern iraq is in the kurdish region. the u.s. worked closely with kurdish fighters. the missiles were fired from inside iran. iranian state tv claims american helicopters and military equipment were quote severely damaged in the attack. however, we've not received confirmation from the pentagon. >> before we let you go, thousands of people took to the streets for general qassem soleimani's funeral. there was a stampede there. we're learning the death toll has risen to 56. have we learned any more. >> reporter: it's unclear what prompted that stampede. but video is frightening. some people are lying, apparently lifeless on the ground. their face covered with clothing. people in the background were crying out to god. in all 213 people were injured in that stampede. yesterday's missile strikes happened a few hours after the crowds mourned qassem soleimani at his funeral. in a speech this morning, iran's supreme leader said qassem soleimani's killing showed iran's revolution is alive. >> laura podesta in new york, thank you so much.

one is in erbil. >> yeah, one base is in erbil, which is in the psalm autonomous kurdish region of iraqat part of iraq was always considered sort of the other iraq. it was spared much of the violence that had plagued the rest of the country. the base there is very close to the airport. the other location that was targeted is the al asad air base, this massive sprawling base in al anbar province that was once the heart of the sunni insurgency. both of these locations very central to the u.s. military's options both in iraq and syria. remember, the u.s. has temporarily suspended its anti-isis operation, suspended its training of the iraqi security forces. but both of these locations most certainly very central to that effort. >> all right. arwa damon, be careful. thank you. qassem soleimani's remains were brought back to his place of origin in iran. the question, what comes next of course remains uppermost. just ahead, i'll talk with two veteran journalists with incredibly extensive knowledge of the region, one of whom was held captive in iran to get their take on the next hours and days.

the other target was here in erbil. we found the sound of explosions at about 5:45 followed by another explosion about 30 or 40 minutes later. two of those were targeted at the erbil international airport less than two miles from here. they were intercepted bay defense system. a third missile landing out in open ground. if that is of course the case that will be analyzed by u.s. military experts to determine exactly what it was and more importantly where it came from. but it seems that the u.s. military were tracking the flight of these. now the other key site which was the al-assad air base apparently was hit by multiple rockets, although it appears a number of them failed to hit their targets. that's according to senior u.s. officials. everyone now remains on high alert, waiting to see what happens next. what will be the retal yas fria from the united states, if any. iraqi forces will be in a high alert status to see what happens, in a defensive posture at least until the word comes to act differently. >> we now turn

one at al asad, the other in erbil. president trump visited al asad a little more than a year ago. this is video from iranian state tv. we can't independently vouch for it, but it claims to be of missiles falling on al asad. the question is what happens next, of course. will the president -- will president trump respond or how will he respond? remember, just two days ago, this is what he promised in a tweet. quoting now, the united states just spent $2 trillion on military equipment. we are the biggest and by far the best in the world. if iran attacks an american base or any american, we will be sending some of that brand-new, beautiful equipment their way and without hesitation. we have correspondents in all three capitals, washington, baghdad, and tehran. i want to first check in with our cnn's barbara starr. so what's the latest from the pentagon? >> the latest from the pentagon, anderson, is they say that more than a dozen, we now know them to be short-range ballistic missiles, were fired from inside iran against these positions at al asad and erbil, both locations inside iraq,

one of them here in erbil. the attack here apparently not causing much damage.er in western iraq where u.s. troops were forced to go into bunkers. iran says it will escalate this. it has launched a media campaign as well saying that it can not only mobilize its proxies, but it will continue if there is a u.s. response. >> all right anxious times. richard engel, thanks. continuing coverage on msnbc and nbcnews.com. i'm lest >>> right now at 6:00, breaking news. missile strikes on air bases housing u.s. troops in iraq. the u.s. trying to figure out the damage, but it does confirm that iran is behind that attack. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening. thanks for joining us. >> it is almost day break in iraq. we will soon see the damage and get official word if there any casualties. iran fired at least two waives of ballistic missiles at iraq in the dead of the night. we know that the attacks targeted three iraqi air bases. you can see two bases here on this map. the missiles are classified as short range. iran is warning the u.s. and its allies in the reg

push for major political and economic reform for more we're joined from the northern iraqi city of erbil by he we're awesome and he's a journalist and analyst also on the phone in baghdad we have ayman he has been part of the protests seeking government reform since october and we are disguising his identity for his safety and joining us right here in the studio in washington hillary mann leverett she is the c e o of strategy that's a political risk consulting firm and has served on the white house national security council under presidents clinton bush at bama and everybody is good to have you here let's go to erbil in iraq 1st of all with he where he were if you could describe the atmosphere around you in erbil today what would you tell us. well generally people are quite relieved by the size of the attack so i think initially people were thinking that listening to what the. grand ayatollah said in iran that there will be an all out attack a major attack a strong revenge but this morning people walk up to. the sound of 2 blasts around the repeal but in the morning when the pictures 1st

targeting two bases, one in western iraq and one in erbil. that's located in the center of iraqi kurdistan at the very north part of iraq. right now, there are no reports of casualties and the pentagon says it's still aassessing the damage. >> the president who visited the air base in 2018 tweeted at 9:45 p.m., all is well. adding so far so good. we have the most powerful and well-equipped military anywhere in the world. he said he will be making a statement later this morning. iranian foreign minister tweeted, iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under article 51 of u.n. charter targeting base from which coward lu armed attack against our citizens and senior officials were launched. we do not seek escalation or war but will defend ourselves against any aggression. richard engel tweeted, iran making threats of mass escalation to attack more bases in iraq to unleash hezbollah and shia militias making it clear it's redty for a widespread campaign if the this escalates further with a u.s. response. >> all eyes now on wa

iraq 1st of all with he where he were if you could describe the atmosphere around you in erbil today what would you tell us. well generally people are quite relieved by the size of the attack so i think initially people were thinking that listening to what the. grand ayatollah said in iran that there will be an all out attack a major attack a strong revenge but this morning people walk up to. the sound of 2 blasts around their appeal but in the morning when the pictures 1st came out they didn't fall on the civilian or military targets they fell into areas with very actually with no down damage at all with no casualties at all which was quite a relief for for all the people and now everyone is starting to talk about negotiations between iran and america and they are hoping that involvement in iraq or iraq as a cancer be part of that negotiation between the 2 countries. it is that it is still quite tense the situation. people are still there we're waiting for the american response to that but after listening to president obama to president. nixon ask that the worst is behind us could b

ian pannell in erbil, iraq. plus, our experts and analysts standing by. >>> also right now, the other breaking story from the region. a boeing 737 passenger jet carrying at least 170 people crashes in iran. early reports indicate no survivors. we're live with the latest. >>> plus, the new emergency declaration in puerto rico after a string of earthquakes. >>> the bombshell in major league baseball. the new cheating allegations against the boston red sox. >>> and harvey weinstein on trial. the cell phone habit that nearly got the hollywood mogul tossed in jail. >>> thank you for joining us on this wednesday morning. we begin with iran firing back launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles at u.s. forces in iraq. >> but so far there are no reports of casualties. those missiles rained down in the middle of the night in retaliation for the u.s. drone strike that killed a top iranian general. the attack could signal a major escalation in tensions, but iraq's foreign minister said already he, president trump, tone

but this is a very clear message from iran and we did just get confirmation from the pentagon that erbil was a 2nd site being struck and so we now have confirmation from the u.s. that there are 2 bases and what they'll be doing is hardening their bases all over iraq to the extent that they haven't so far as we've been discussing before those bases were already on high alert people were going around in helmets at that al assad base for instance all of the time when helicopters take off at night they do so in the dark without light so that they're not easy targets there was a time when planes would would come to the major bases in iraq that they would do so-called corkscrew landings so that they would minimize their exposure on the way down but this is precisely the kind of provocation the pentagon was expecting maybe a little bolder in scale than they had expected previously but it is exactly the kind of thing that the president that the defense secretary and that the secretary of state here in the united states have been warning against the question now is what will they do to retaliate

. >> chief international correspondent clarissa ward is in erbil in northern iraq.ran targeted that city as well as al asad air base in central iraq causing moderate damage but no casualties. >> reporter: it was extremely eerie to be flying in to erbil at night. the airport was essentially deserted. ours was one of the only flights that have not canceled because one of the missiles that fell in erbil actually landed within the perimeter of the airport. this is obviously extremely important place strategically for the u.s. it is the heart of the fight against isis. a lot of special forces operatives working in and around this area. that fight is now frozen, but we did notice in our hotel roughly 100, if not more, u.s. military contractors, they had essentially been evacuated from places like baghdad, also from the balad air base amid fears of continuing attacks. the assumption was that erbil was the safe place to send people, but iran sending a powerful message last night that no place is essentially beyond the reach or completely secure from the reach of their missi

senior iraqi officials in both baghdad and erbil. they're trying to figure out what's on the ground. we know that washington has been in touch with bad dad over t next couple of days a couple of days ago to oust u.s. troops. what their pasture in the coming weeks. if iraqi officials are on the ground telling us we're not sure what's going on, how many people have been killed? >> that shows the lack of from other analyst the and other people in washington. they say, nobody really knows what the trump administration has laid out a strict, sort of tactical policy on a ran. they put over 1,000 sanctions on iran and iranian entities. >>> with the killing of qassem sole harman will continue on that pathr whether some of the people who are the arrange tekts of that pressure contact, it was working. no need to go further. >> cal, steve schmidt and others have well. this comes in the midst of this regional proxy war over the last few years. a growth across the crescent and its projection of force to save the government of bashar al assad agai

our cnn chief international correspondent clarissa ward is in erbil, iraq, where multiple locations were targeted. i know you've just gotten your feet on the ground there. i don't know how much you'll be able to see. can you talk me through about any damage or anyone in the area, their reaction to this? >> reporter: so, you know, i have to tell you, brooke, it was a little chilling to be landing on a plane in the pitch black late at night here in erbil because essentially the vast majority of flights have been canceled. the airport was a virtual ghost town. most airliners deciding not to go ahead and fly into erbil because there was a missile that did hit within the perimeter of the airport. it didn't explode, but certainly it has got tensions raised and people concerned about security. when we arrived at our hotel here, there was kind of an extraordinary scene in the lobby. i would say roughly 100 u.s. military contractors all who were essentially evacuated from baghdad area, from the balad air base area, presumably evacuated here because this was always presumed to be a sort of safe ha

bases in erbil that was confirmed by the u.s. president as well as we've been following this story the i.r.g.c. in iran said that it is in retaliation to the killing of qassam silly money and they almost timed it to the time of death where the americans fired missiles at us i'm still in money since then we've been hearing reports of of damage material damage but no casualties as yet we've heard from some iraqi officials fearing that there might be some iraqi casualties but now as day breaks things are expected to become clear we also heard from the prime minister of the kurdish region masoud barzani who said that he's spoken to the u.s. secretary of state and suggested some suggestion made some suggestions for deescalation after these attacks so this is what iraq had been anticipating what iraqis had been fearing and expecting and the iraqi government saying that it does not want to get bogged down it does not want to grab get dragged into this war between the united states and iran many iraqis who we've been speaking to were afr

was also hits and erbil an air base in o.b.l. was targeted so no word yet on casualties but iran's revolutionary guard has warned of a harsh response if the u.s. retaliates against the attacks it also says u.s. allies will be targeted if their countries are used for strikes against some of it has more from baghdad we started getting reports of missiles being fired from iranian state t.v. which was later on confirmed by iraqi security forces more than a dozen of them landed in the. province multiple missiles landed near u.s. bases in. the iranians saying that all of their missiles hit the targets of but so far no reports of damage at u.s. facilities and they're being or at been hearing of some material damage damage but no casualties have been deported. u.s. president on a trump has responded to the strikes tweeting all is well and said an assessment of casualties and damage was taking place senior republican senator lindsey graham they called the strikes an act of war. and the u.s. federal aviation authority has now banned u.s. a

they targeted a base in erbil, the kurdish area of iraq and fired two missiles at erbil one came closeclose at all. so a little bit difficult to figure out what to make of this, but it seems they wanted to target the sunni area and kurdish area, and maybe they didn't want to try to cause a lot of u.s. casualties. >> shannon: lieutenant governor, what do you think? do you think there is another step coming? we talk about whether these were purposeful messes or not, or whether to all of us into a sense of, that's not that bad. >> i've heard of a lot of opinions on fox, and watching before joined you. and obviously we don't know. i would say this, first of all we are blessed and grateful no american life at this point were lost. what a blessing that is that they are safe. at the same time, the iranians were very lucky. if they were trying to mask taking lives, they were very lucky that they didn't accidentally take a live or how would have been -- they would have been facing help from this president. we will see what he does next. the president is predictably unpredictable. it sounds like

cnn's clarissa ward is in erbil, the northern kurdish region of iraq, near where some of last night'ss struck. so, clarissa, talk about the situation there tonight? >> reporter: well, anderson, it's very quiet here tonight, but i have to say, it was extremely eerie to be flying in to erbil at night. the airport was essentially deserted. ours was one of the only flights that was not canceled because one of the missiles that fell in erbil actually landed within the perimeter of the airport. this is, obviously, extremely important place strategically for the u.s. it is the heart of the fight against isis. a lot of special forces operatives working in and around this area. that fight is now frozen, but we did notice in our hotel, roughly a hundred, if not more, u.s. military contractors, they had essentially been evacuated from places like baghdad, also from the beladd air base amid fears of continuing attacks. the assumption was that erbil was the safe place to send people, but iran sending a powerful message last night that no place is essentially beyond the reach or completely secure f

al-asad and a base in erbil.he hope of deterring the expects iranian strike. >> what happens next depend on them. i think we should expect they will retaliate in some way, shape or form through their proxies as he have been doing now for how many years, or by their own hand. so we take this one step at a time. we are prepared for any contingency. >> is per went on to say u.s. troops are not withdrawing from iraq. here is esper again. >> there is a -- a big offramp sitting in front of tehran. message u us they want to sit dn with no preconditions to find a way forward. reporter: that was before tonight's missile attacks on u.s. troops. now the pentagon chiefs and the president where in the white house. trish: jennifer, thank you very much. outstanding reporting as always. i want to share with the viewers, they are looking at some video that has come in from iranian state tv reporting there has been a second round of attacks. the pentagon confirming the first round of attacks on two u.s. air bases. one in northern

military is in erbil at a base, they have a base that's collocated with the commercial airport. it's an urban populated area literally that sits right up against the commercial airport there. if they wanted to hit, they could inflict a large number of casualties and destruction with one strike on that location if that's what they were trying to hit. we still don't quite know that yet. and the fact that they didn't, now, is it possible the targeting was off? we don't know. al-assad, it's this large sprawling base. there's vast areas. it has a huge air field there that really is desert and concrete. and especially when you're talking -- it was the middle of the night, after 1:00 in the morning local time. it is very possible that if they were to strike, you can look at satellite images and get a sense of where the airfields are. commercial satellite images. so if they were to target those or areas of the expansive part of the base, they could go after that and be pretty assured of not injuring or killing anyone, lawrence. >> courtney kube, thank you very much for joining us. we ar

what sorts of targets are they so there were 2 bases that were targeted one is north near the city of erbil and then one is must iraq in unbar province the military base which hosts u.s. soldiers in iraq u.s. soldiers are in iraq and invitation from the iraqi government so they're posted at various iraqi military bases throughout the country. the missiles that were fired from iran appeared to be targeting u.s. personnel these military bases. however it seems as of now that no u.s. person i mean we're not positive the situation still ongoing but the reports that we're getting is now makes it seem like a new mistress now work it that the iraqi soldiers were also on those bases with the u.s. soldiers seem to have suffered some losses we're not sure how many. now we don't know that these were ballistic missiles they were fired from iran what do we know about iran's military capability how accurate are these sorts of missiles and how capable is the country of carrying out an effective strike something that could be precise and hit a far away target. i mean there it says you seem to 90 people of

and coalition forces in erbil.he strikes caused no known casualties. >> if you ask the president what he thinks, everything is fine. he said so in a tweet. "all is well, so far so good. we have the most powerful and well-equipped military anywhere in the world by far." he promised to make a further statement this morning. the president visited al asad air base in december of 2018 and said this -- >> while maintaining the u.s. presence in iraq to prevent an isis resurgence and to protect u.s. interests, and also to watch over iran. we'll be watching. >> as the strikes ended, iran's foreign minister tweet eed they took and concluded measures. we do not seek escalation or war but will defend ourselves against any aggression. he now says it is, quote, up to the u.s. to come to its senses. speaking overnight, iran's supreme leader said iran gave the u.s. a slap in the face. iran's semi official news agency shared this undated video of ayatollah ali khomeini. >> translator: if you hit, you get hit back. [ chants ] they k

pentagon and the rocky military have confirmed that the i know assad base in western iraq and the erbil base in northern iraq both have been hit those 2 facilities house american and coalition forces alongside the iraqi forces the iranian military has named the approach excuse me marty of solo money and war and further strikes to follow now since news of the attack broke there has been a 4 percent spike in the global oil price but jackie i have to say that this 4 percent spike really it looks like nothing if you compare it to what iran is capable of doing in this whole circumstance imagine for instance the run blocking off the strait of hormuz the oil prices could spike you wouldn't be able to get a barrel a barrel of oil for less than hundreds of dollars which is essentially runs way of showing you can really take down the global economy of the global energy sector down with it also iranian proxies are known to unknown to set fires to oil reserves to all wells abroad and so on and so forth so with all this in mind that donald trump's response well it seems like a silver lining here as

we've been on the base up in erbil on several occasions. it's very big, lots of american personnel, lots of american investment, and a lot of u.s. aircraft. remember that u.s. troops here in iraq, they number around 5,000. high alert, and they had paused their operation several days ago against isis, fearing some kind ar revenge attack by iran. on o'donnell: all right, holly n lliams in baghdad for us nknight. holly, thank you. we should note, it is a late night at the white house tonight. president trump is in the situation room at this hour meeting with his national ncurity team. .eijia jiang is at the white house. and, weijia, what do we expect from the president? a reporter: well, norah, we are anxiously awaiting to hear from president trump who himself has not said a thing about these mtacks as he meets with his national security team to decide their next move. but during a string of rare press conferences all day long today, they sent one very clear, unified message that if iran were to do anything, there would be a serious price to p

casualties among the missiles that landed at the al-assad airbase and in erbil gives the president to try to ease tensions rather than escalate the confrontation. the president making it clear as he walked up to the podium surrounded by military brass and his national security team this morning that as long as he's president, iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. he also called on america's european allies along with trigger with russia and china. to pursue a more comprehensive deal and says he will push nato to get more involved. >> the time has come for the united kingdom, germany, france, russia and china to recognize this reality. we must all work together toward making a deal with iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place. today i'm going to ask nato to become much more involved in the middle east process. >> a short time ago, the nato secretary general revealing he had a phone call with president trump today. nato spokesman saying "the president asked the secretary general for nato to become more involved in the middle east. they agreed that nato c

well that all of the troop movements which were happening inside syria were being carried through erbil it wasn't coming from. from turkey in the base but rather on the ground movements were happening from there has significant presence of u.s. forces and air assets as well so yes they're being is would probably be a target for the iranian forces if they wanted to hit coalition targets and then a few 100 miles away i'd say is this base. in the province province yes it is. north central iraq but it is very significant and these are completely different locations on the video the troops we've been hearing warnings we've also heard from mark us saying that the commanders on the ground are taking particularly. the kind of steps that they need when he was asked about whether the threat level was that c. or d. because those are signaling the kind of preparedness that each base needs to be at and something that we've seen on the ground as well especially during the fight against us and if you were at a forward for forward operations base that you would you would know on the base immediately br

either at the al-assad airbase or at the erbil facilities targeted by iran.t by many senior officials in the administration that iran may have intentionally missed what would have been very sensitive targets to make sure that there were no u.s. casualties here. the president has promised iran that if there are more u.s. casualties around will get hit very hard. so this is being seen really is a big propaganda move on the part of the iranians. that they responded, and offered domestic consumption. they can tell the people they responded to the killing of qassem soleimani last week. they fired a bunch of missiles at the united states, and the coalition that the united states is involved with. and they are saying that they killed more than 30 u.s. troops, which they didn't, according to the pentagon. there were no u.s. casualties. so iran can tell its people, "we responded, and i we are finished with the response. unless there is more retaliation from the united states, we will probably hold our fire, at least for the moment." to the thinking of the white house

two missiles hit in erbil. one in the airport, the international airport there. the report is it did not explode. another landed outside the city. no injuries reported from that one. now, u.s. military reports that it saw missiles being organized in iran, loaded, taken out of the garrisons, put on to the launching devices, and readied for launch. a question that arises, why didn't the u.s. strike at them then? that is interesting and complicated and we can answer it tonight and we will in a moment. now, the question is from iran releasing these missiles and not being done locally, do they have the ability to target missiles close enough, but not dead-on target? in other words, was this a step to save face within the region without doing maximum damage? yes, every report that you're seeing and i'm not repeating their words, because i don't see the benefit in that kind of invective, but tough talk aside, was this the move to show that we could have, show we retaliated, and now that's that? we have intelligence on that as well. but what we don't know right now is pr

i want to go to ian pannell, our senior foreign correspondent in erbil.u've been reporting all morning long, the iraqis were given a heads up by the iranians. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. some people say when is an attack not an attack. that's not to minimize what happened and the gravity of it but the fact there were no u.s. casualties, coalition casualties and iraqi casualties is remarkable given the scale of the attack. abc is reporting there were a number of short and medium range missiles fired from multiple locations in iran and two sites in iraq. it's remarkable that no one was injured. we know that u.s. troops were in the bunker when rockets were fired. they were given a call by the iranians to tell them there was some form of attack coming. they didn't say where, what particular sites and they didn't say when. we've asked repeatedly of the iraqis and also we've asked the americans whether or not they communicated with each other about this threat. one presumes that they did but neither side is willing to say so because potentially it compromi

one hit erbil. 10 missiles al-assad air base.ere the drone might have been launched from. is that a possibility the drone that killed soleimani. >> drones are launched from a number of different bases it. is a possibility. i doubt that the iranians have that strong of intelligence to be able to determine that drones are launched from a number of different locations. again, i don't want to minimize this strike. but, when i look at this, the iranians have been doing this for a number of years. only thing unique the missiles were launched from iranian territory. this is really a common occurrence to be under the threat of indirect fire from iraq. so common it didn't use to make much headlines when the iranians would do it true their proxy forces. this seems like a calculated decision on behalf of the iranians to try to save face. they get to tell their public that they struck back against the u.s. government. they don't look weak. they are able to save face but at the same time not do something that is such a strong military retalia

facilities in iraq at least 2 bases have been targeted one in erbil and the other one of the areas in the province of anbar iran's revolutionary guard has assumed a warning to israel and other u.s. allies in the region saying they'll be attacked if their countries are used to strikes against tehran. it is standing by for us at the white house as big as the latest reaction out of iran 1st let's go. to osama bin. in the iraqi capital just before we start our conversation of some of we have got these live pictures coming to us from kemah on the actual funeral for. so the money taking place following on from the 3 days of official mourning compelling pictures. some of the people osama we've been talking to since this story broke 4 hours ago now have been saying that the optics are interesting that they went for the airbase that donald trump. had been to in december of 2018 had they also timed it so it's it's operating in counterpoint do you think perhaps with the actual burial. well the optics do matter and as you as you pointed out early on in this conversation that the iranians decided

missiles at joint us in iraqi facilities in iraq at least 2 bases have been targeted one of them is in erbil and also the iron base in anbar province also iran's revolutionary guard has issued a warning to israel and other u.s. allies in the region saying they will be attacked if their countries are used for strikes against teheran now in the last 20 or so minutes we've had. reaction from the u.s. president on twitter of course and he starts by saying all is well missiles launched from iran to military bases located in iraq assessment of casualties and damage is taking place now so far so good we have the most powerful most well equipped military anywhere in the world by far i will be making a statement tomorrow morning. and then we've also heard from iran's foreign minister mohammad zarif this is what he said he said this before donald trump i should point out as well iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under article 51 of the united nations charter targeting a base from which cowardly attack against our citizens and senior officials were launched we do not seek e

have reportedly hit 2 bases the sonde air base that is in western iraq and another near the city of erbil there are reports of iraqi casualties the full extent of the damage is still unclear iran's revolutionary guard has confirmed that the attack was in retaliation for the u.s. assassination of a top general qassam soli money on friday. on joint. now in studio by iraqi journalist amir mousavi and in washington by our correspondent pablo thank you to you both for being here pablo i want to head to you 1st because the president has just tweeted moments ago walk us through what did the president say. that's right carl we were almost expecting president trump to tweet and in it he said all is well missiles launched from iran of 2 military bases located in iraq assessment of casualties and damage is taking place now so far so good we have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world by far i will be making a statement tomorrow morning of course that was in direct reference to the fact that many americans were expecting him to address the nation earlier this evening that

ian pannell in erbil, iraq.nd analysts standing by. >>> also right now, the other breaking story from the region. a boeing 737 passenger jet carrying at least 170 people

because canada has troops in iraq both as part of nato mission iraq in baghdad and at the base in erbil which was hit by ballistic missiles fired from iran and canada had no warning of the attack that was going to lead. ok well thank you for that c.b.c. reporter evan di reporting from ottawa. and it's time now to take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world. thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of bilbo in spain's basque region there demanding the return of prisoners linked to the former armed separatists group at a government policy has so far been to does 1st these prisoners across the country demonstrators want these prisoners to be transferred to jail closer to home. a spanish rescue ship says it has rescued $72.00 migrants who had run into difficulty in the mediterranean or small boat found off the coast of libya was carrying several pregnant women and young children tens of thousands of people every year attempt the perilous journey to reach your. taiwan's pro independence president at saïd one has been reelected by a landslide margin side won

i would also argue that this attack in erbil on a base that we have used in the past to go after targetsisis targets is symbolic, in that both bases send a message, not only to the us but to our sunni allies and our kurdish allies in northern iraq, and the person whojust replaced qasem soleimani, his name is esmail ghaani he is known for putting down protests in norhtern iran, basically executing all the military—aged males of kurdish descent, down to the age of io—year—olds, in order to send a message to the dissenters. to put down the dissent and the protests going across the shia crescent from iran to iraq to lebanon. absolutely crucial to say at the moment when it comes to casualties we don't have any information on that. it is the middle of the night local time in iraq so it is difficult to tell what kind of damage that is stopping but when it comes to the attacks themselves, they have happened just hours after the funeral of qasem soleimani. are you surprised how quickly this retaliation has escalated 7 they hinted that no attack would happen until qasem soleimani was buried. there

al asad air base and erbil. how bad is the damage there? >> reporter: the damage is almost non-existent, didn't damage any equipment, didn't kill anybody. 17 missiles landed close to al asad, two failed to detonate and another in the northern kurdish held part of the country. that has been greeted with some relief because of the tit-for-tat problem or danger of further escalation. but, a big but, the two major iranian-backed militia groups vowed to continue their campaign to drive the u.s. out of iraq. and the parliament demanding the u.s. leave, too. they will maintain that pressure and say u.s. troops will not be safe if they remain on iraqi soil. what that does is raise the specter of the widespread sheer resistance conducted against the u.s.-led coalition's occupation of iraq in which many thousands of people were killed, very often with very sophisticated roadside bombs in particular. this technology and techniques of which were supplied by iran. the key thing here is it's not just up to iran, this aspect, if the whole energy here turn

secretary, in the initial hours after the missile attacks on al-assad in erbil, it was believed that iran may have taken steps to avoid u.s. casualties. but then the chairman of the joint chiefs came out, secretary of defense came out, other officials said, no, these missiles were intended to kill americans. if it was iran's intent to kill americans, does that not deserve some sort of response? if somebody takes a shot at you and they don't hit you simply because you duck, does that mean that they weren't trying to kill you? mr. pompeo: so, i'll refer to the department of defense on details. there's no doubt in my judgment as i observed the iranian activity in the region that night, they had the full intention of killing u.s. forces. whether that was our military folks or diplomatic folks who were in the region. and i'm confident that the response the president has taken is appropriate. the president said we don't want war. we want iran to be to behave like a normal nation. the reason that the secretary and i are here this morning is to continue our campaign, this strategic effort to

. >> the ballistic missiles fired at american bases al asad and erbil, we believe, were intended to kill americans. we have intelligence to support that was the intention of the iranians. >> in a matter of hours, house democrats will vote on a resolution to limit president trump's military powers against iran. at least two republican senators say they will support this. those republican senators mike lee and rand paul, they're furious about the way the trump administration officials briefed them yesterday. the lack of evidence produced about the intelligence that led to the killing of iran's top general. and all this comes as pressure builds among senate democrats on a different subject for nancy pelosi to hand over the articles of impeachment to the senate. we're going to begin on the ground with cnn's clarissa ward, our chief international correspondent. she's at the site where one of the iranian missiles hit in northern iraq. clarissa? >> that's right, john. as you can see, this is a very rural area. we have been talking to local security officials who tell us there's no real american

the part of iran, they fired 15 ballistic missiles, ten hit the al assad air base and another ten erbiln, there were no u.s. casualties. compare that to the attack on the oil facility, pinpoint strikes on cruise missiles. for all intents and purposes, these were iraqi bases that were targeted, iran in the past talked about hitting u.s. bases elsewhere in the region, none of those were targeted. what we see in effect is a iranian attack against iraqi facilities. the president could announce he is going to respond and certainly in the oval office and yesterday afternoon when he was with the greek prime minister, the president indicated the united states is prepared and ready to react if needed. >> i will say this, if iran does anything they shouldn't be doing, they are going to be suffering the consequences and very strongly. likewise we are prepared to attack if we have to as retribution. >> the president has been taking criticism from democrats for taking out soleimani last friday despite the fact that soleimani was long ago declared a terrorist by president obama. the iraqi prime minis

and coalition forces at al-assad and beale - erbil. are reports, the press secretary saying a moment or two ago, the president will not address the nation tonight. the washington post also sang the press six jerry is saying no one from the administration will -- also sing the press secretary saying no one from the addressation will the nation tonight. we will keep you posted on any updates. >> next, a panel of political analysts on their production for iowa's first in the nation political caucuses. this forum was held at the state historical museum of iowa in des moines. >> we had a great discussion on these events. in this hour, i want our scholars to focus more on the current caucus race, and how they see the race unfolding, who is ahead and behind. to aid in the d discussion -- to aid in the discussion, i'm going to say that we have breaking news, a cbs poll just out has 23%,rs at 23%, biden at buttigieg at 23%, warren at 16%, and klobuchar at 7%. .o >>ha

more than two dozen missiles raining down in an air base in other locations in and around the city of erbil. this strike coming after iran gave a heads-up to iraq that it was about to take place, a warning that was then passed on to the united states allowing those in the immediate path to take precautions. no american or iraqi casualties have been reported. earlier we heard from president trump. there he was at the white house flanked by his top military chiefs once again defended his decision to kill general soleimani while revealing new sanctions on iran, but he also sent a message directly to those living in the country. >> iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world. as we continue to evaluate options in response to iranian aggression, the united states will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the iranian regime. these powerful sanctions will remain until iran changes its behavior. to the people and leaders of iran, we want you to have a future and a great future, one that you deserve, o